The Akwa Ibom High Court, presided over by Justice Okon Okon, has sentenced a 38-year-old hunter, Edet George, to ten years in prison for illegal possession of firearms.
George, married with eight children, was found guilty of being in possession of firearms, contrary to Section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act, Laws of the Federation 2004.
The section provides that “any person having a firearm in his possession or under his control in contravention of the Firearms Act shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to a fine of N20,000 or to imprisonment for a period of not less than 10 years or both.”
Delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Okon said the convict in his evidence in Court, “did not deny that he had guns but rather, gave evidence of what he used the guns, which he inherited from his father for.”
Justice Okon said the convict who “admitted that he had two guns and a bullet, saw nothing wrong having guns as a trained and professional member of the Association of Hunters with identity card and certificate of participation in training programmes conducted in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force.”
The Judge stated that “the accused person appeared to the Court to be a man of truth who obviously laboured under the false belief that he was entitled to own and possess guns without the need for license being a professional hunter involved in community policing.”
The Court held that “ignorance of the law is no excuse in Law. The accused person is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment or N20,000 fine.”
The Court further held that “the Prosecution has by a largely uncontroverted evidence, proved beyond reasonable doubt, the essential ingredients of the offence of illegal possession of firearms against the accused.”
Justice Okon said “the offence of illegal possession of firearms is a strict liability and the burden is on the accused to prove that his possession of the firearms was lawful by producing the license that allowed him to have possession of the firearms.”
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