Benedict Oluigbo & Ors V. Godfrey Umeh (2003)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

ALBERT GBADEBO ODUYEMI, J.C.A.

By a writ of summons issued out of the Minna Division of the High Court of Niger State, the respondent herein as plaintiff, claimed from the appellants herein, as defendants jointly and severally the sum of N300,000.00 (Three hundred thousand Naira only), being amount collected by the defendants from the plaintiff on 27th March, 1994.

The brief facts of the case are that on 27th March, 1994, the plaintiff was a passenger, in a commercial vehicle Registration No. NG 6316 MC from Minna in Niger State to Lagos.

1st defendant, an employee of 3rd defendant was the conductor of the said commercial vehicle on the journey in question.

2nd defendant is the Chief Executive of 3rd defendant, a company which owns and operates the commercial vehicle.

At the commencement of the journey in Minna, plaintiff claims to have handed over to the 1st defendant (on the invitation of 1st defendant to passengers who had obtained tickets for the journey and who had on them moneys for safekeeping for the purpose of keeping same in the safe of the vehicle) two parcels containing the sum of N300,000.00 and that at the end of the journey, when plaintiff demanded a return of the two parcels of money, 1st defendant failed to give the parcels to him, claiming that the safe in which he kept the money had been forcibly opened and that plaintiff’s money together with that of one other passenger in the vehicle had been removed; while 1st defendant returned the parcels of monies of other passengers, whose monies he had collected to the other passengers.

Pleadings were filed and exchanged.

By the amended statement of claim of plaintiff, he claimed as follows:
“(a) The sum of N300,000.00 (Three hundred thousand Naira) contained in the said parcel.
(b) For N10,000.00 (Ten thousand Naira only) as general damages.
(c) For 15% interest on the said sum until the sum is paid.

The defendants by their amended joint statement of defence denied in its entirety the claim of the plaintiff.

At the end of the trial, in which 5 witnesses testified for the plaintiff and six witnesses for the defendants, the learned trial Judge found for the plaintiff in negligence and made an order that the defendants do pay the plaintiff the sum of N300,000.00 together with general damages assessed at N10,000.00.

Defendants are aggrieved by the judgment and have appealed to this court.

Originally, defendants filed 10 grounds of appeal in the lower court.

By leave of this court, appellants filed 3 further grounds of appeal.

From the 13 grounds of appeal, the appellants have distilled in the brief of arguments deemed duly filed with leave of this court seven issues as follows:
“1. Whether the judgment of the trial Judge would have been any different, if she had given careful consideration to the evidence of the defence witness particularly the evidence of DW2 and DW4 and whether having regard to the evidence on the record his lordship findings against the defendants can be sustained?