ARABA
V.
ELEGBA
·
NNAEMEKA-AGU, JCA (Delivering the Leading Judgment): In a Lagos High Court, the plaintiff claimed against the defendant the following reliefs:-
"(a) ₦50,000.00 general and special damages for trespass committed on diverse dates on or about the 20th day of May, 1982, by the Defendant his servants and/or agents who unlawfully broke and entered the premises situate and known as No. 42 Odo Street, Obalende, Lagos, which was in possession of the Plaintiff and damaged the building thereon erected by the plaintiff.
(b) A perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant his servants and/or agents from further committing an act of trespass by interfering with the Plaintiff's possession and/or occupation of the said premises."
The facts of the case as revealed in the pleadings and evidence before the court are brief. The plaintiff, a building contractor agreed in writing with the defendant and three others to erect a two-storey building at No. 42, Odo Street, Obalende, Lagos which belonged to the…