The Edo State High Court sitting in Benin has discharged and acquitted the head of DHL in Benin City, Nuhu Omokide, of any wrongdoing in connection with a disputed missing parcel allegedly sent to the United Kingdom.
The case arose after a customer claimed she did not receive a parcel containing academic and professional documents sent through the courier company. Omokide had earlier been convicted by a Magistrate Court on charges including conspiracy and unlawful interference with customer property.
However, delivering judgment in appeal suit B/10CA/2025, Justice E. G. Adekanmbi set aside the lower court’s ruling, holding that there was no legal or factual basis to hold the appellant personally responsible for the alleged loss.
The court noted that the complaint was directed at DHL as a corporate entity, not the individual staff member, stressing that liability cannot automatically extend to employees unless there is clear evidence of personal involvement in a criminal act.
“There is no law that makes individuals in a company liable for the company’s actions or inactions unless those individuals personally committed the offence,” the judge stated.
Justice Adekanmbi further held that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Omokide was responsible for the disappearance of the parcel. He noted that tracking records tendered before the court showed the package had left the Benin office, and no evidence linked the appellant to any diversion or misconduct.
The judge also faulted the earlier court’s conclusion that Omokide was guilty because he could not account for the missing documents, stressing that in criminal trials, the burden of proof rests entirely on the prosecution.
“The responsibility to prove theft or conversion does not lie with the defendant. The prosecution failed to establish any act of negligence or criminal intent on the part of the appellant,” he ruled.
Consequently, the court nullified the earlier conviction, discharged and acquitted Omokide, and ordered the refund of the ₦250,000 fine he had paid.
The judgment effectively ends the legal battle stemming from the 2023 case in which a Magistrate Court had found him guilty under provisions of the Criminal Law of Edo State.
The appellate court’s decision has now cleared the DHL manager of all charges linked to the missing parcel dispute.
