confession of guilt is sufficient for the conviction of a defendant and does not need collaboration . In the case of NSOFOR vs STATE (2004) 18 NWLR (PT. 905) 292 at page 311 , the Court held that a free a_nd voluntary confession alone, properly taken , tend~r~d and a_ dm1tt~d a~d proved to be true is sufficient to ground conv1ct1on provided It satisfies the condition for admissibility'. 1 SEE: QUE~N VS. OBIASA (1962) 2 SCNLR 402. ONOCHIE VS. THE REPUBLIC (1966) SCNLR 204. MBANG VS. STATE (2010) 7 NWLR (PT. 1194) 431. Exhibit "C" ·which is the confessional statement of the defendant as rightly submitted by the learned counsel for the prosecution contains lucid details of the background of the defendant and graphic description of his day-to-day activities up to the steps taken prior to his arrest. I agree that the contents of Exhibit "C point irresistibly to the fact that it was the defendant that gave the information in the statement to the Police and it was voluntary. As such , I am satisfied and find as a fact that Exhibit "C was made voluntarily by the defendant. It is positive and unequivocal and amounts to admission of guilt. In my opinion, Exhibit "C if no doubt is created will suffice to ground a finding of guilt regardless of the fact that the defendant retracted it during the trial. Now considering Exhibit "C in relation to the applicable test there is the evidence that the defendant was arrested with the stolen money to show that the confessional statement which is Exhibit "C" is true on crucial point. The circumstantial evidence of the P.W.1 and P.W.2 support the veracity of Exhibit "C". It was proved that the defendant had the opportunity · of committing the offence. The prosecution has proved the confessional statement of the defendant which is Exhibit "C" and confirmed its content which directly linked the defendant to the commission of the crime. In my view a lesser offence of robbery was thus duly proved by the prosecution against the defendant based on his confession which is Exhibit "C" and the circumstantial evidence of the P.W.1 and P.W.2 which corroborated the confessional statement. 11 11 11 11 Having all these at the back of my mind , it is now necessary for me to look at the evidence ·adduced by the defendant to see whether 21

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