B. O. Okafor v. Christopher Nnodi (1963)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgement Report

BAIRAMIAN [Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria]

This appeal was allowed at the hearing and an order made on 11th November, 1963 at Kaduna; the Court said reasons would be given later, and they will now be given. The claim in the writ is for #20,000 as damages for the death of Celestine Nnodi as per particulars attached. The particualrs explain that:

“The plaintiff’s claim is as the person entitled under native law and custom to administer the estate of Celestine Nnodi, deceased, for #20,000 (Twenty thousand pounds) being damages for the death of the said Celestine Nnodi from injuries received by the said Celestine Nnodi while a passenger in the defendant’s lorry No. BYA. 773, by the negligence of the defendant’s servant and driver in charge of the said lorry known as Chukwuweike at Mile 9 on the Lafia Jos Road, on 28th July, 1959.”

The defendant could not be found, so an order was made to post the writ on the door of his house. That was done, but he did not turn up at the hearing on 23rd May, 1962. Counsel proceeded to prove his case. He called Christopher Nnodi who testified that being a full brother of the deceased and their father having died, he was the representative under their Ibo native law and custom and represented the family in the suit. He spoke of five children, the eldest fifteen and the youngest five, who went to school and were under his care. He said that the deceased traded in fish, potatoes, English vegetables, bought gari and oil, and had a large store in Port Harcourt; and added that he could manage for the family with #20,000. The second witness, Anne Nwachukwu, spoke of the accident and added that he and the deceased traded together. The 3rd witness, Klutz Ume, also spoke of the accident. Finally the motor licensing officer of Jos testified that at the time of the accident the lorry was registered in the defendant’s name.

Thereupon the trial Court found he was the owner of the lorry, which was driven by his servant negligently, with the result that the deceased died in the accident the lorry had on 28th July, 1959; that the plaintiff was entitled to sue under S. 4 (1) (b) of the Fatal Accidents Law (No. 16 of 1956); but in view of S. 7 (1) of that Law the learned Judge (Reed, J.) said he would have an Ibo assessor to help him. On the following day the trial Judge sat with an assessor, and called on the plaintiff to give full particulars of the persons on whose behalf the action was brought under section 5. The plaintiff then stated the names and ages of the children; that the deceased left a widow, who had not remarried; that their mother was still alive; that he had three brothers and a sister, that all the children were at school, and that he was responsible for them.

The learned Judge awarded #4,000, which the assessor advised should be paid to the plaintiff as the person responsible for the widow and children; he was to hold the money in trust and should keep a proper account, and when the children were independent their share should be paid to them.

The defendant’s principal grounds of appeal are variations on the theme of there being no evidence on oath of what contributions the deceased had been making to each of the claimants and no basis for what was an excessive award.

Attention is drawn first to section 5 of the Law, which provides that:-
5 . “In every action brought under the provisions of this Law the plaintiff shall give to the court full particulars of the person or persons for whom and on whose behalf such action is brought and of the nature of the claim in respect of which damages are sought to be recovered. “

The particulars of claim state its nature but not the persons on whose behalf the action is brought. The trial Judge, after entering judgement, sought to remedy that omission before assessing the damages by asking the plaintiff to give the particulars of who those persons were; and the plaintiff gave the names of all who could be included in ‘the immediate family’ as defined in section 2. That was rather late: it should have been done early so that the defendant might know who the actual plaintiffs were and be able to prepare his defence, if he had wished to defend, for the purposes of section 7. Of this it is enough to quote subsection (1):

7. (1) “In an action brought under the provisions of this Law the assessment and apportionment of damages shall be made in accordance with the following principles:-
(a) Where the deceased person was not a person subject to any system of native law and custom:-
(i) the court may give such damages as it may think proportioned to the injury resulting from a death to the persons respectively for whom and for whose benefit such action is brought; and
(ii) any amount recovered under the provisions of sub:-paragraph (i), after deducting the costs not recovered from the defendant, shall be apportioned amongst the persons entitled thereto in such shares as the court shall direct;
  (b) Where the deceased person was a person subject to any particular system of native law and custom the principles of such system shall be applied by the court In:-
(i) The assessment of the total amount of damages;
 (ii) The decision as to which (if any) members of the immediate family of the deceased person are entitled to share in such damages; and
(iii) The apportionment of the shares of such damages among the members of the immediate family so ascertained:

Provided that no greater sum shall be awarded by a court in assessing damages under the provisions of paragraph (b) in relation to the death of a particular deceased person than could have been awarded by a court in assessing damages under the provisions of paragraph (a) in relation to the death of such person.”

There is to be one award of damages according to section 4 (3), but in any case under section 7 (I) the amount must be apportioned among those entitled to share in the damages, and there must be a decision of who they are; and the apportionment must have regard to the injury resulting from a death to the persons respectively-we stress the word respectively for whom and for whose benefit the action is brought.

In this case, in which the plaintiff’s counsel called evidence to prove his claim, there was no statement of who those persons were and no evidence on oath of who those persons were, of what injury each one of them suffered from the death of the deceased to furnish a basis for assessment of damages and of apportionment, and no apportionment among them. The complaints in that behalf were justified, and the appeal had to be allowed; on the other hand, as the three years allowed for suing by section 6 (I) had passed, it was only fair to order a re-trial, and that was ordered.

The Fatal Accidents Law, 1956, replaced the English Fatal Accidents Acts, 1846 and 1864 with an eye to adapting them to local conditions. They and the local Law may be compared to see how far English practice and decisions may be usefully applied. (The English Acts can be seen in Halsbury’s Statutes of England, 2nd ed., p. 4 onwards, and a form of claim is given in Lord Atkin’s Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, vol. 12, p. 57; and guidance will be found in Halsbury’s Laws, 3rd ed., vol. 28, at p. 100.) it is hoped that counsel for the plaintiff will conduct his case with more assistance to the court below next time.