Judgment
HELEN MORONKEJI OGUNWUMIJU, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): 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.
