Confession

According to Black’s Law dictionary, confession is a criminal suspect’s oral or written  acknowledgment  of guilt, often including details about the crime. In other words, a confession is an admission,  in whole or in part made by an accused person of his guilt. Section 28 of the Evidence Act 2011, defines confession as an admission made  by an accused stating or  suggesting that he committed the crime which is the subject of the charge preferred against him.
A confessional  statement does not carry his weight because  it was made orally. See Moses Jua v The State (2010) 4 NWLIR, (Pt 1184) p.249. Note also that a statement made under caution by the accused person  becomes confessional once it admits the charge or creates the impression that the accused committed  the offence charged. That is why the Supreme  Court  in the case of Mustapha Mohammad  & Ors v. The State (2007) in Tony Ukani, Supreme  Court cases, pp. 565-566, held that  once there exists a confessional  statement which is direct, cogent  and unequivocal to the fact that the  accused  committed the offence, the prosecution  need not prove the offence any longer for the Confession is enough proof of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
Section 29 (1) of the Evidence  Act, 2011, states  that in any proceeding, a Confession made by a defendant  may be given in evidence  against him in so far as it is relevant to any matter in issue  in the  proceedings and is not excluded by the court in pursuance of this section. But such  Confession will not be  allowed to be given in court as evidence if it is obtained by oppression of  the person who made it. Oppression according to Section 29 (5) of the Evidence Act includes torture, inhuman  or degrading treatment and the use or threat  of violence whether or not  amounting to torture.  In Balogun V.A.G. Federation (1994)5 NWLR (pt 345) 458, Uwaifo JCA (as he then was) described what can amount to oppression; “It  is an oppression for a state security agency to take a suspect or accused into  custody  in respect of a matter having nothing to do with security  of the state and  insist on a statement being  made particularly  under  circumstances  and in an atmosphere  which instill  fear not only in the  suspect but also in a police  officer called in to take the statement…..”
Section  31 of the Evidence Act, provides that if a confession is relevant, it does not become irrelevant  merely because it was made under a promise  of secrecy or in consequnce of a deception practised on the defendant for the purpose of obtaining it. Thus Obaseki, JSC in Igbinovia V.  The state (1981), 2 SC 5, explained that though deception is a mode of behavior disapproved of by society, it remains a widely accepted  method used to fight and flush out criminals who wear the gab of innocence.

Nkechi Bright Ewere