/ ...
. I
20
(c) Are the relevant statements made in it of facts true as far as
they can be tested?
(d) Was the defendant one who had the opportun ity of committing
the offence?
(e) Is his confession possible?
(f)
Is it consistent with other facts which have been ascertained
and have been proved?
SEE : KABIRU VS . A. G., OGUN STATE (2009) 5 NWLR
(PT. 1134) 209 .
NSOFOR VS . STATE (2004) 18 NWLR (PT. 905)
292 .
.....
u
-
If the confession~! statements pass the tests satisfactorily, it will be
proper for me to convict based on them unless other grounds of
objection exists. ·However, if the confessional statements fail to
pass the tests , no conviction can properly be founded on them and
if any is founded on them , it will invariably be overturned on
appeal. As I said earlier, the evidence the prosecution tendered at
the trial in respect of the point under consideration is only the
confessional statements of the defendants which are Exhibits "C 11 ,
111
111
"C and "0 and the circumstantial evidence that one of the
robbers was inflicted with several machete cuts on his head during
st
the robbery operation and the 1 defendant was arrested with
fresh machete cuts wound on his head in the morning of the
incident. I have the duty to consider whether there is any evidence
corroborating the confessions which are Exhibits "C 11 , "C 111 and
111
"D . However, in doing that it should be borne in mind that
1
Exhibits "C", "C " and "0 1" as I said earlier, are not confessional
statements of the offence of armed robbery for which the
defendants were eharged . The 1st defendant in Exhibits "C11 and
1
---............"C " _confessed to having committed a lesser offence than the one
lie 1s alleged to have committed . In the same vein, the 2 nd
"(" efendant in Exhibit "D1 " confessed to having committed a lesser
~ offence too .
·'/)
In the first place, Exhibit "C" which is the 1st confessional
st
statement of the 1 defendant contains lucid details of the
st
background of the 1 defendant and graphic description of his