(/ I l i ,l /· 19 {/ ,' I nd told him to mention his name. However, the 2 defendant whom he claimed told him to implicate lzuchukwu Okeke in his statement which is Exhibit "D" denied committing the offence and did not nd mention the name of lzuchukwu Okeke. It was in his alleged 2 1 statement which is Exhibit "D " that he admitted robbing the P.W .1 with the 1st defendant and also exonerated lzuchukwu Okeke. It is 1 1 therefore, discernible that Exhibits "C" , "C " and "D " and the circumstantial evidence from the P.W.1, P.W .2 and P.W .3 that one of the robbers was inflicted with several machete cuts on his head during the robbery operation and the 1 st defendant was arrested with fresh machete cuts wound on his head in the morning of the incident are the evidence tendered by the prosecution in proof of the offence of commission of robbery against the defendants. The question that · is relevant to ask at this point is whether the defendants (and especially the 2 nd defendant) can be convicted on the basis of their confessional statements which are Exhibits "C", "C 1" and "D 1" in view of the fact that they retracted their extra judicial statements in their testimonies in Court? The law is now firmly established as rightly submitted by the learned counsel for the prosecution that where a defendant confesses to a crime in his extra judicial statement to the pol ice but in court, he retracts from his confession , prudence and the well laid down practice is that before such a : defendant is convicted on the said confessional statement, the Court looks for some evidence outside the confession which would make the confession probable. SEE : OMOJU VS . F. R. N. (2008) 7 NWRL (PT. 1085) 38. STEPHEN VS . STATE (2013) 8 NWLR (PT. 1355) 153. In other words , before giving legal effect to a confessional state~~nt ~f a defendant, I am enjoined to test it as to its truth by examining It along with other evidence to determine whether it is probable. In order to be able to do this , the appellate courts have set some guiding principles and I am implored to ask myself the following questions:(a) ls there anything outside the confession to show that it is true? (b) Is it corroborated? cou~f--- ·or _,.·:~ .. H1G~ i 7 AUG 2017