Niger Construction Ltd V. Chief A. O. Okugbeni (1987)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

OPUTA, J.S.C.

The facts of this case do not appear to be very much in dispute. The Defendants before the trial Court – Niger Construction Ltd. – were a Construction Company. During their construction of the Eku-Effurun Road the Defendant/Company dug up a considerable quantity of laterite from the farm lands belonging to the Plaintiff as well as to other land owners.

In that exercise several rubber trees as well as other economic trees like pepper fruit trees were uprooted. The Defendant/ Company’s excavation resulted into a burrow pit which rendered the land useless for farming purposes. When negotiations for the payment of compensation failed the Plaintiff took out a Writ of Summons claiming:-

1. N44,920.00 (Forty-four thousand, nine hundred and twenty Naira) as reasonable compensation for the Plaintiff’s rubber trees on the said parcel of land which the Defendants converted into a burrow pit.”

In his Amended Statement of Claim the Plaintiff claimed as follows:-

“(a) A declaration that the defendant in the execution of its contract for the construction of Roads including the Eku-Effurun Road is obliged by the law and the Constitution of Nigeria to pay compensation and damages to owners of crops, structures, economic trees and or land in respect of land taken and used for a burrow pit.

(b) Compensation/Damages for the destruction of 2246 mature Dunlop Rubber trees at the rate of N20.00 per tree- N44,920.00.

(c) Compensation/Damages for the destruction of 10 mature pepper-fruit trees at N40.00 per tree – N400.00.

(d) An Order enjoining the defendant to abate the nuisance on his said land to wit – by filing up and covering the aforesaid burrow pit with laterite to its original state failing which – damages for the said nuisance……N50,000.00.

After due trial on relevant evidence, the learned trial judge, Prince Akenzua entered judgment for the plaintiff as follows:-

“(1) The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff a total sum of N44, 920.00 being the amount of compensation for his 2,246 matured Dunlop Rubber Trees at the rate of N20,00 per tree.

(2) The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff a total sum of N400.00 being the amount of compensation for his ten matured pepper fruit trees destroyed by the defendant at the rate of N40.00 per tree.

(3) The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff the sum of N20,000.00 as damages done by them to the plaintiff’s farm land.

(4) The defendant is therefore adjudged to pay to the plaintiff a total sum of N65,320.00 compensation and N2,000.00 cost of this action.”

That was the judgment of the Court of first instance in favour of the Plaintiff. The defendant/Company dissatisfied and aggrieved by the above judgment appealed to the Court of Appeal Benin Division Coram Nasir, P., Pepple and Babalakin, JJ.C.A. In a unanimous judgment the Court of Appeal affirmed and confirmed the following awards made by the trial Court:-