LEGAL PRINCIPLE: EVIDENCE LAW – Confessional Statements – Retracted Confession – Conviction on Retracted Confession Alone
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A confession is, by virtue of section 27(1) of the Evidence Act an admission made at any time by a person charged with a crime stating or suggesting that he committed that crime. It follows that once an accused person makes a statement under caution, admitting the charge or creating the impression that he committed the offence with which he is charged, the statement becomes confessional. An accused can therefore be convicted on his confession alone regardless of the fact that he resiled therefrom or retracted it altogether at the trial. It is however, desirable that the contents therein should be tested by facts outside the statement. It must be stated that the retraction notwithstanding a confessional statement must be considered along with other evidence by the trial Judge who at the end would decide whether or not the appellant did make the statement alleged by the Police.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Katsina-Alu, JSC, in Hassan v. State (2001) NLC-2812000(SC) at p. 10; Paras A–C.
"A confession is, by virtue of section 27(1) of the Evidence Act an admission made at any time by a person charged with a crime stating or suggesting that he committed that crime. It follows that once an accused person makes a statement under caution, admitting the charge or creating the impression that he committed the offence with which he is charged, the statement becomes confessional. An accused can therefore be convicted on his confession alone regardless of the fact that he resiled therefrom or retracted it altogether at the trial. It is however, desirable that the contents therein should be tested by facts outside the statement. It must be stated that the retraction notwithstanding a confessional statement must be considered along with other evidence by the trial Judge who at the end would decide whether or not the appellant did make the statement alleged by the Police."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
A retracted confession can alone sustain a conviction if the court is satisfied of its truth. Retraction does not render the confession inadmissible—it affects weight. The judge must test the confession against other evidence (corroboration desirable but not mandatory). The confession must be direct, positive, voluntary, and properly proved. The court considers the retraction but is not bound by it. The key question is whether the confession is truthful, not whether it was retracted. Corroboration is desirable but not legally required. The judge must apply the established tests for retracted confessions.