Clifford Okeke V. Lucy Igboeri (2010)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

AMINA ADAMU AUGIE, J.C.A. (The delivering of Lead Judgment)

The Respondent’s daughter, Ifeoma, was the Appellant’s girlfriend, and she had a key to his room. Some money got stolen from the locker in his room, which was not broken into, and suspecting Ifeoma of taking the money, the Appellant reported her at the New Benin Police Station, Benin City. Ifeoma and her sister, Nkechi, were arrested and detained there, and when the Respondent went to the Station to arrange for the release of her daughters and handover the key to the Appellant’s room, she too got arrested, and spent two days in custody before being released on bail.

Dissatisfied with the conduct of the investigation, the Appellant wrote a Petition to the Commissioner of Police, State C.I.D., and the Respondent was re-arrested and detained at the Police Cell in State C.I.D for four days. After her release on bail, her Solicitor wrote to the Appellant demanding N5 Million Naira for unlawful arrest and detention. His Solicitor replied that he had no hand in the matter, and she then filed, the action that led to this appeal at the Edo State High Court, Iguobazuwa, claiming the sum of N5 Million Naira as aggravated damages for false imprisonment.

This appeal turns on the issue of pleadings vis-a-vis evidence led, and it will be necessary to identify the relevant averments therein. The Respondent filed a 22-paragraph Statement of Claim, wherein she averred that Ifeoma had been living with the Appellant since 1997, and they were engaged to be married. However, on 25th May, 1999, the Appellant asked Ifeoma to go back home because he wanted to bring in another girl. She further averred:

“6. On 28/5/99 the Defendant with the aid of the Police at Nigerian Police Station, New Benin, Benin City arrested Miss Ifeoma Igboeri on a bogus allegation that he lost the sum of N244,000.00 and that he suspects Ifeoma and the boys in the area. The Plaintiff will at the trial tender and rely on the Police Crime Diary of 28/5/99

9. On 30/5/99, when the Plaintiff went to the Police Station, New Benin to arrange for the release of her two daughters, Nkechi and Ifeoma, and handover the key which the Appellant had given to Ifeoma, but to the Plaintiffs greatest surprise, the Defendant identified the Plaintiff to the Police, Sgt. Ola, as the mother of Miss Ifeoma Igboeri and one of those who have stolen his N244,000.00.
10. Based on the Defendant’s prompting as referred to in paragraph 9 above Sgt. Ola arrested the Plaintiff and detained her. The Plaintiff was released on Police bail after spending two days at the New Benin Police custody.

11.The Defendant almost kept vigil at the New Benin Police Station and indulged in vituperative exchanges with the Plaintiff and her two daughters persuading the Police not to release the Plaintiff and her two daughters on bail until the sum of N244, 000.00 is given back to the Defendant.

15.After the release of the Plaintiff and her two daughters on bail at the New Benin Police Station, the Defendant who felt he has not dealt adequately with the Plaintiff and her two daughters wrote a Petition to the State C.I.D., Benin City, on the strength of which the Plaintiff and her two daughters were re-arrested and detained at the Police Cell, State C.I.D. on 7/6/99. ;

21. The Plaintiff avers that the arrest and detention were malicious, unlawful, and without legal justification.

22.WHEREOF the Plaintiff claims against the Defendant the sum of N5m (Five Million Naira) being aggravated damages for false imprisonment for the unlawful arrest and detention at the instance of the Defendant in Benin City between 30/5/99 and 11/6/99 at the New Benin Police Station and the State C.I.D. Police Cell, Police Headquarters, Benin.

The Appellant as Defendant filed a 24-paragraph Statement of Defence, wherein he conceded that Ifeoma was his girlfriend, but denied that they lived together permanently, as she used to come and go, or that he proposed marriage to her. He further averred-

9. The Defendant in answer to paragraph 6 of the Statement of Claim avers that he kept N244, 000.00 in a locker attached to his bed in his bedroom and this was on or before the 28th of May, 1999.

11.The Defendant in specific answer to paragraph 9 of the Statement of Claim avers that when the said Ifeoma was arrested by the Police at the New Benin Police Station, the I.P.O informed him that she made statement to the Police that the key to the Defendant’s room got lost and the Policeman investigating the case was surprised when the Plaintiff brought the key to the Station and the Police had to obtain statement from her in the course of their investigation.

17.The Defendant in specific answer to paragraph 15 of the Statement of Claim avers that he wrote a Petition to the Commissioner of Police about the way his case was handled, and the New Benin Police Station merely transferred the case file and the suspects arrested in course of their investigations to the State C.I.D. Benin City.

20.The Defendant avers that after the investigation of the case at C.I.D, the Police charged the daughter of the Plaintiff to Court in consonance with the Defendant’s initial report against her in connection with the loss of his money.

22. The Defendant in specific answer to paragraph 21 of the Statement of Claim avers that the arrest and detention of the Plaintiff by the Police in course of police investigation was not malicious, and not unlawful and the Defendant states further that he has no hand in the investigation conducted by the Police but merely reported a case of breaking and stealing of his money in his room.
23. The Defendant avers that the claim of the Plaintiff as stated in paragraph 22 of the Statement of Claim is gold digging and speculative and will at the trial of this suit raise the issue that there is no cause of action against the Defendants and the suit should be dismissed with substantial costs against the Plaintiff.
24. The Defendant will at the trial of this suit rely on legal and equitable defences available to him and will further rely on all processes filed.

At the trial that ensued, the Respondent testified and called three other witnesses, including Ifeoma as PW1. Her testimony is to the effect that the Appellant played a major role in getting them arrested and detained, as he was the one who asked the Police to arrest her, and chartered the car that took them to the State C.I.D.

On his part, the Appellant testified that Ifeoma had told him the spare key he gave her was missing, and that when he was not satisfied with the investigation at the New Benin Police Station, he wrote the Petition dated 3151 May 1999, and addressed to the Commissioner of Police, State C.I.D. [Exhibit ‘DA’], which reads-