Sea Trucks (Nigeria) Ltd. V. Panya Anigboro (2001)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

OGUNDARE, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal (Benin Division) wherein the appeal of the applicant (now respondent before us) was allowed and judgment was entered in his favour in terms of his prayers before the trial High Court which had earlier refused those prayers.

The respondent, as applicant, had in a motion filed on 26/2/87 in the High Court of the now defunct Bendel State in the Warri Judicial Division prayed the court pursuant to section 42(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979 and Order 1 rule 2 of Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 1979, for leave to bring an application.

“for redress of the breach of the rights of assembly and association of the plaintiff/applicant when he was unlawfully and summarily dismissed from work by the defendants on the 28th of February, 1986 by locking him out and by notice at the gate of the defendants’ premises at Enerhen for his declaring to belong to a particular trade union NUPENG …..”

(Italic is mine for emphasis)

In the statement in support of the application the respondent sought the following reliefs from the court, to wit:

“2. Relief Sought

The plaintiff claims (a) that his purported summary dismissal from the said employment of Sea Truck Nigeria Limited (the defendant) on the 28th of February, 1986 is a breach of his fundamental rights under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979 when the defendant locked the plaintiff out of the premises of the defendant and thereby preventing the plaintiff from entering the premises and carrying out the duties of his employment for the defendant and when the defendant pasted the notice of the summary dismissal of the plaintiff written on the notice board at the gate of the premises of the defendant at Enerhen within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court on the ground that the plaintiff declared along with the other workers of the defendant for NUPENG (b) order of this Honourable court to reinstate the plaintiff to his said employment and benefits and entitlements as from the 28th of February, 1986; and/or in the alternative N20,000.00 compensation for the said breach of the fundamental rights of the plaintiff under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979”.

And the grounds for the relief were stated in paragraph 3 of the statement as follows:

“3. Ground on which reliefs are sought:

(a) The summary dismissal is a breach of the fundamental rights of the plaintiff to belong to an association of his own which is NUPENG -National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers – as entrenched in section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

(b) The summary dismissal is a further breach of the fundamental right of the plaintiff to a fair hearing (or to be heard) before any punitive action can be taken against him under section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

(c) The summary dismissal is contrary to the current Sea Trucks (Nig.) Ltd. Conditions of service as at the 28th February, 1986 as applied to a confirmed employee of the defendant in Articles 13 and 14 thereof.”

There was an affidavit filed in support of the application and in which the respondent deposed, inter alia, as follows: