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WEEKLY LEGAL NUGGETS

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THE RADIANT JUSTICE CHAMBERS, OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY

WEEKLY LEGAL NUGGETS 

CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT


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. This is provided for in Section 28 of the Evidence Act, 2011. 
For a confessional statement to be admissible in court, it is essential that it is Voluntary. The admission must also be direct and affirmative, not ambiguous. 
An admission of guilt must be made by the person charged, not any other person, be it his counsel or police officer. Such confession made can only be relevant against the person who made it only. 
Section 29 of the Evidence Act 2011 provides for the rule of evidence regarding relevance and admissibility of confessional statements. A confession must not be forced or extracted by means of oppression such as torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and the use or threat of violence. 
It is a common occurrence in the Nigeria Police system to induce or force a suspect to make a confessional statement involuntarily. A person who has been beaten almost to the point of death, threatened or promised some benefits such as release during questioning in custody will find it hard to not give in to making a forced confession especially a common man who does not have a lawyer as a retainer. 
 In Nigeria, confessional statements must be written and signed by the person charged for it to be admissible in court. To render a forced confession useless and inadmissible, an accused must indicate on the statement sheet of paper by discreetly adding some words showing that he is not writing it voluntarily. Some of the words that can be used are UD (Under Duress), FC (Forced Confession), IC (Involuntary Confession), NMD ( Not my Deed), NEF (Non Est Factum) These should however be hidden in the statement so that it will not be discovered by the person forcing the confession. If a confessional statement is signed with any of this abbreviation and the accused argues that he was forced to make the confession, he can prove himself by showing the judge where the abbreviation is written on the statement and what the meaning is. This will affect the weight of and evidence and in most cases, the accused can be acquitted and in that case, the police can be sued for malicious prosecution. 

R v Ebhomien & ors (1963) 1 All NLR 365


FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH
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