PARTIES TO OFFENSES

 (Principal offender)

    According to chapter 2 of the criminal code of Nigeria (laws of the federation of Nigeria 1990) which talks about parties to offenses, criminal offenders are classified into two major classes namely; (1) principal offender (2) accessory after the fact. For the purpose of this discuss we will be looking at section 7 of the chapter which deals with the first class of the classification as the sub topic implies (principal offender).

According to section 7 of chapter 2 of the criminal code, it states that;

 When an offense is committed, each of the following persons is deemed to have taken part in committing the offense and to be guilty of the offense, and may be charged with actually committing it, that is to say-       

(a)  Every person who actually does the act or makes the omission which constitutes the offense;  
(b)  Every person who does or omits to do any act for the purpose of enabling or aiding another person to commit the offense; 
 (c) Every person who aids another person in committing the offense;  
 (d) Any person who counsels or procures any other person to commit the offense.


 In the fourth case he may be charged either with himself committing the offence or with counselling or procuring its commission. A conviction of counselling or procuring the commission of an offence entails the same consequences in all respects as a conviction of committing the offence.  

  Any person who procures another to do or omit to do any act of such a nature that, if he had himself done the act or made the omission, the act or omission would have constituted an offence on his part, is guilty of an offence of the same kind, and is liable to the same punishment, as if he had himself done the act or made the omission; and he may be charged with himself doing the act or making the omission.   


These sub paragraphs will further be discussed for better understanding.

(a) Every person who actually does the act or makes the omission which constitutes the offense.

     This simply means that anyone who "actually" carries out the commission or omission which makes the offense will be regarded as a principal offender. For instance, A stabs B in the heart which eventually leads to the death of B, as we know that the offense aforementioned is the offense of murder under section 316 of the criminal code. A will be regarded as a principal offender for having actually carried out the offense himself, and as such will be dealt with according to the stipulated punishment for the offense of murder. Same applies to other offenses aside murder provided the offender is deemed to have carried out the act according to this sub paragraph (a) of section 7 of the Criminal Code.

(b)  Every person who does or omits to do any act for the purpose of enabling or aiding another person to commit the offense.

    This sub paragraph may be a bit knotty to understand at first sight especially first timers (students in particular) to law. what this section simply implies is that; anybody who commits or omits to carry out any act for the purpose of "enabling" or "aiding" another person to commit the offense will be deemed to be a principal offender ( like he committed the offense himself). 
    The words to watch out here for are the aforewritten words in parenthesis, which implies that for one to be liable under this sub paragraph (b) (regarded as a principal offender) he must have enabled or aided the commission or omission of the offense in question. That is to say, he must have "prepared" the way to a smooth operation of the offense. For instance, A leaving the front door to the house open at 8:00pm for B who comes with his gang to rob the house at 10:00pm. Or still A sets a ladder by the fence some hours before an armed robbery took place in that house in which that ladder was actually used to get into the house by the robbers. In both situations A will be liable under sub paragraph (b) of section 7 of the Criminal Code for enabling or aiding the offense in question. It is however important to note here that these aforementioned acts carried out by A were before the actual commission of the offense. If it is not before the commission or omission of the offense then it is something else and as such the offender will not and cannot be guilty under this sub paragraph.


(c)  Every person who aids another person in committing the offense.

    Every person who aids another in the commission of an offense will be considered as committed that offense himself. For instance C being restrained by B from rescuing a young lady who is being raped at that moment by A. B for restraining C from rescuing the young lady in question is liable under this subparagraph and will be deemed as committed the offence himself. What is important to note about this subparagraph is that unlike the previous subparagraph discussed, the offence in question is of a present continual state when the "aid" is been offered. The offence must be ongoing when the aid was offered. For example, A holds the door open for B and his friends to allow smooth transit of heavy property moved to the vehicle of conveyance during a robbery operation. The aid is of an ongoing process, it is neither before nor after but of a present continuous mode.

(d)   Any person who counsels or procures any other person to commit the offense.

    "Counsels" and "procures" are the words in this sub-paragraph to take note of. What is it to counsel or procure? To counsel simply means to advice the person of another person, to prepare the mind of another person towards a certain objective, to guide the mind of another towards something or to help make up the mind of another towards an objective or goal. To procure here simply put is to buy the service of another to execute a certain goal, pay the person of another to help you achieve a particular set objective of choice, to put the person of another in an agent/principal position as regards to a transaction of choice, and finally to provide assistance in the form of money or weaponry to the person of another for the execution of a certain (usually illegal) act. If found liable in either situations, that person will be considered as done the act himself and will be guilty of whatever outcome.  An example of this is the Boko Haram  terrorist group currently operating in Nigeria, whoever are their sponsors they'll be liable under this sub paragraph for counseling (in the case of the suicide bombers), and procuring the fighters by not only getting them ammunition but also paying them to dish out mayhem on poor and defenseless citizens of the country.

    In conclusion, it is very important to note that the purpose of division of this section into sub paragraphs is purely academic, no court of law will go into such details as have been treated here when it comes to proceedings, neither will a suspect be brought before any competent court of law as a principal offender under section 7 sub paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d). You are either a principal offender or an accessory after the fact. in which ever subsection the accused is found guilty, like aforementioned he will be charged and prosecuted like having committed the offense himself.The mens rea of the offense determines where an offender is actually culpable.