E. O. OGWUEGBU, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): At the High Court of Lagos State holden at Lagos, the appellants claimed:-
"(a) the sum of US $894,390.00 or its Naira equivalent being damages against the Defendant for the failure of the Defendant to ship and deliver 3,948 bales of Icelandic stockfish pursuant to a letter of credit dated 1st October, 1981;
(b) compound interest on the special damages at the rate of 15% per annum from 1st January, 1982, to 31st July, 1987, and at 20% per annum from 1st August,1987 until the day of judgment;
(c) general damages in the sum of N2,000,000.00."
Pleadings were ordered, filed and exchanged. From the pleadings, the plaintiffs entered into a contract with the defendant and placed an order for the supply of 15,000 bales of stockfish from Iceland and the supply was to be delivered to the Nigerian National Supply Co, Ltd. This contract was entered into in 1981.
It was the case of the plaintiffs that the defendant shipped and delivered …