Jaiyesimi & Anor V. Darlington (2022)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

HELEN MORONKEJI OGUNWUMIJU, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the concurrent findings of fact of the two lower Courts. The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, Coram: J. S. Ikeyegh; U. A. Ogakwu; A. O. Obaseki-Adejumo delivered its judgment on the 14th day of December, 2017 affirming the judgment of the trial Court in favour of the Respondent. The Appellants had appealed against the judgment of the trial Court delivered by Hon. Justice W. Animasahun of the High Court of Lagos State in a fundamental right proceeding on the 1st day of February, 2016 wherein judgment was delivered in favour of the Respondent (Applicant at the trial Court). The Appellants herein were the Appellants at the Court of Appeal while the Respondent herein was the Respondent at the Court below. The trial Court awarded aggravated damages against the Appellants and held their employers – First Bank not vicariously liable for the breach of the Respondent’s fundamental rights. The facts that led to this appeal are that the 1st Appellant was the officer in charge of the account of a customer known as OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED on which a fraud of N355,000,000 (Three Hundred and Fifty-Five Million Naira) was attempted on 25/09/2013. It was this attempted fraud that occasioned the chain of events that precipitated the suit. The two lower Courts found as follows:

The Respondent was a dispatch rider whose routine duties include delivering documents specified by his superiors to various officers within the Bank and other places around Lagos. The Respondent was instructed to take four (4) funds transfer forms originating from the account of OLAM NIGERIA LIMITED to the Operations Manager at the Head Office to effect the transfer of the total sum of N355 million into four Corporate Accounts. After the Respondent dispatched the transfer forms as instructed, he was summoned back to the office and the two Appellants caused him to be detained at the Lion Building Police Station because he refused to say that he submitted the transfer funds in error to the Operations Manager. The Respondent was detained from 25/9/2013- 26/9/2013 at Lion Building police cell where he had been taken by First Bank Security on the instruction of the Appellants. On 27/9/2013 he was bailed, but the same night, the Bank’s security men on the instruction of the Appellants got the Respondent detained at Ikoyi Police Station. He was detained for seven (7) days and charged on 4/10/2013 at the Magistrates’ Court 11 in Lagos State. After numerous adjournments, the Magistrates’ Court struck out the charge for lack of diligent prosecution.

There was unanimity in the affidavit and the counter-affidavit filed by both Appellants and the Respondent at the trial Court that no-superior official of First Bank’s head office questioned the Respondent on the matter, and apparently knew any details of the attempted fraud or participated in the instructions to detain the Respondent.

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After his discharge by the Magistrates’ Court, the Respondent instituted proceedings to enforce his fundamental human rights to personal liberty and dignity and for damages for his unlawful incarceration at various police stations for several days for no just cause. After hearing the application, the trial Court found and held that the rights of the Respondent had been infringed and awarded exemplary damages of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000) against the 1st Appellant and Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira against the Appellant and costs of the action at N1 million each against the Appellants. The Appellants appealed to the Court below.

The Court held after it re-evaluated the evidence at trial and considered the issues raised by the parties that the trial Court discharged its primary duty of evaluating evidence and its conclusion after the evaluation was not perverse and that the trial Court justified its findings of violation of human rights against the Appellants. The Court also held there was no appeal against the award of aggravated damages and refused to decide the point.

On appeal to this Court, the Appellants settled through their counsel Chief Karina Tunyan SAN the following issues for consideration.

1. Whether on the state of the disputed facts, the conflicting evidence in the affidavits exchanged by the parties and the hostile nature of the proceedings based on the allegation of violent maltreatment, the suit at the lower Court was rightly commenced by affidavit evidence procedure and the two Courts below were right to have countenanced same and accede to the Respondent’s claims. (Distilled from grounds 1)
2. Whether the Appellants were responsible for breach of the Respondent’s fundamental right to personal liberty (Distilled from grounds 2).
3. Without prejudice to issue two above whether the Appellants can be adjudged and/or held personally liable in damages for an action of a disclosed principal. (Distilled from grounds 3).
4. Whether the award of aggravated damages against the Appellants jointly and severally was proper based on the relevant facts and circumstances of this case. (Distilled from grounds 4).

The Respondent’s counsel Mrs. Funmi Falana settled four (4) similar issues for determination as set out below:

1. WHETHER the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the judgment of the trial Court was not against the weight of evidence adduced at the hearing considering the facts and circumstances of the case. (Distilled from Ground 1).
2. WHETHER the Appellants can be held liable for breach of the Respondent’s fundamental right to personal liberty. (Distilled from Ground 2).
3. WHETHER the Appellants who mischievously complained to the police, strenuously pursued same to indict the Respondent and even when the Police offered to investigate the fraud multiple times but they were always stopped by the Appellants who would tell them to ignore that and just make sure that the Respondent admitted that he was guilty for a crime he knew nothing about can be adjudged personally liable for their actions. (Distilled from Ground 3).
4. WHETHER the award of aggravated damages against the Appellants jointly and severally was proper considering the facts and circumstances of the case. (Distilled from Ground 4).

The real issues in controversy between the parties will be considered in the determination of this appeal. They are:

1. Whether the Appellants can be held solely liable for the breach of the Respondent’s fundamental right to personal liberty.
2. Whether the Court below was right in holding that the claim of the Respondent was legally proved and the Respondent was entitled to the award of aggravated damages in the circumstances of this case.

ISSUE ONE

Learned Appellant’s counsel submitted that from the undisputed facts on record, the appellants at all material times acted as agents for and on behalf of a disclosed principal in reporting an alleged fraud and handing over the Respondent as suspect to the security department of First Bank who in turn handed him over to the police who subsequently detained him. Learned counsel argued that if the First dank was not found liable, then the Appellants who did not act on a frolic of their own but simply discharged their duties to their employers could also not be found liable for violating the rights of the Respondent. Counsel argued that an agent acting on behalf of a disclosed principal incurs no liability. Counsel cited the case of NIGER PROGRESS LTD v. N.E.L CORPORATION (1989) 3 NWLR (Pt. 107) PAGE 68, LEVENTIS TECH. LTD v. PETRO JESSICA ENT. LTD. (1992) 2 NWLR (Pt. 214) pg. 459, FAITH ENTERPRISES LTD. v. B.A.S.F. (NIG) LTD. (2001) 8 NWLR (Pt. 714) PG. 242 AND ESSANG v. AUREOL PLASTIC LTD. (2002) 17 NWLR (Pt. 795) pg. 155.

In reply, Counsel argued that the Respondent was able to prove that it was the two Appellants and not First Bank as a corporate entity which set the law in motion against him, while the Appellants could not prove that their actions were in furtherance of their duty to their employers. The Court was bound to hold that their actions were mala fide.

Counsel cited AFRIBANK v. ONYIMA (2004) 2 NWLR pt. 858 pg.654 AT 679, FAJEMIROKUN v. COMMERCIAL BANK NIG. LTD (2002) 1 NWLR Pt. 774 pg. 95.