How to Obtain Confessional Statements and Admissions in the Police Station

Generally, the mode of obtaining statements by the police is to first administer a word of caution on the suspect. If the suspect can write in English, it is advisable for the police to give a paper to the suspect and allow him to freely make the statement. If the suspect speaks or writes another language different from English, the police should allow the suspect to make his statement in that language. Thereafter, an interpreter may translate the statement to English language. If the suspect cannot write, the statement must first be recorded in the language in which the suspect made the statement. Where an interpreter is used in obtaining a statement, the statement is inadmissible unless the person who interpreted it is called as a witness as well as the person who wrote the statement down.

If a suspect is making a confessional statement admitting a crime, it will be necessary for the police to take the suspect and the statement to a superior police officer for confirmation and endorsement in line with the Judges Rules.

Statements are to be taken voluntarily from suspects and should not be obtained in a questionable manner or in a question and answer manner. If a suspect is forced to make a statement or the statement made under duress, compulsion, threat or promise of an advantage, such statement may not be admissible in court as evidence: section 29(2) of the Evidence Act 2011.

The procedure for taking a confessional statement is as follows:

Under section 15(4) of the ACJA 2015, where a suspect who is arrested with or without a warrant volunteers to make a confessional statement, the police officer shall ensure that the making and taking of the statement shall be in writing and may be recorded electronically on a retrievable video compact disc or such audio visual means.

In similar vein, section 17(1) & (2) of the ACJA 2015 provides to the effect that where a suspect is arrested on allegation of having committed an offence, his statement shall be taken, if he so wishes to make a statement. Such a statement may be taken in the presence of a legal practitioner of his choice, or where he has no legal practitioner of his choice, in the presence of an officer of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria or an official of a Civil Society Organization or a Justice of the Peace or any other person of his choice.

Under the Administration of Criminal Justice (Repeal & Re-enactment) Law 2011, which is applicable in Lagos State, there is the requirement that the making and taking of such a confessional statement must be recorded in a video or in the alternative in writing and in the presence of the maker’s lawyer: section 9(3) of the ACJ (R&R) Law 2011.

There is also the need for caution before the confessional statement is made. The caution is administered after informing the suspect that he may be prosecuted in the course of the interrogation. It goes as follows: “You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but whatever you say may be put in writing and given in evidence”.

However, by section 31 of the Evidence Act 2011, a confessional statement that is otherwise relevant shall not be irrelevant only by reason of the fact that the maker of the such statement was not warned that he was not bound to make such a statement and that evidence of it might be given. Indeed, in Usman v. State, it was held that breaches of the Judges’ Rules do not render a document inadmissible. At best, such breaches might only affect the weight the court attaches to the statement and certainly not its admissibility.

Accordingly, confessional statements obtained contrary to Judges’ Rules are admissible provided that it was voluntary. An alternative to caution is taking an accused before a superior Police Officer before he makes and signs the confession.

Under the Criminal Procedure Code Law, applicable to the Northern States, a confessional statement can be made to a Justice of Peace or police officer after the appropriate caution. The Justice of Peace or police officer shall record same in the case diary and sign same. Such recorded confession need not be on oath.

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