r ! f <'// . 10 ; l , the defendants as Exhibits "C" , "C 1" , "O" and "0 111 . The learned counsel for the prosecution in his final written address submitted that the statements are confessional statements of the defendants and so supported their case that the offence was armed robbery. The defendants in their evidence before the Court challenged Exhibits "C" , "C 1" , "O" and "0 1" on the ground that they were not obtained voluntc;lrily. In another breath the 1st defendant clairped that he did not sign any document at the office of the SARS. Having admitted the statements of the defendants as exhibits, they become part of the case for the prosecution and I am therefore bound to consider their probative value notwithstanding the retraction by the defendants in their testimony before the Court. What is important is the weight I will attach to such confession and retraction during my fact finding mission as such a retraction does not necessarily make the confession inadmissible. SEE : NWACHUKWU VS . THE STATE (2007) 17 NWLR (PT. 1062) 31 . EGBOGHONOME VS . THE NWLR (PT. 306) 383 . WJ u ►· ~ ... -'( --... .x: ft] I ,-.... • z 'ii STATE (1993) 7 When is a statement confessional? By the provisions of section 28 of the Evidence ·Act, 2011 "a confession is an admission made at any time by a person charged with a crime, stating or suggesting the inference that he committed that crime ." For a statement to constitute a confession , the maker must admit or acknowledge that he committed the offence for which he is arrested . The admission must be clear, precise and unequivocal. In other words, a confessional statement will be relevant if it establishes beyond reasonable doubt the ingredients of the offence for which the defendant is charged as well as the identity of the defendant. Again , before th.ere can be said to have been an armed robbery, the defendant or defendants must have stolen something which is capable of being stolen with violence or being armed with dangerous weapon . Any person who is in company of a person armed while robbery is being committed is also guilty of 11 commission of armed robbery. Are Exhibits "C", "C 1", "0 and "0 1" really confessional statements? It is therefore pertinent at this juncture to reproduce the relevant portions of Exhibits "C", "C 1" , "O" and "0 1" in order to ascertain if they are confessional statement. The relevant portion of Exhibit "C" reads:-