ODUYEMI, JCA (Delivering the Lead Judgment): On 2nd November, 1998, the respondent, as plaintiff caused a writ of summons to be issued on the appellant, as defendant by the High Court of Justice of Niger State in the Minna Judicial Division.
The writ was specially endorsed as follows:- “PARTICULARS OF CLAIM 1. The plaintiff who, in the ordinary cause of business as a trader and shop keeper, bought crates of the defendant’s product for sale and actually sold same to customers who consumed same and discovered the product to be highly contaminated.
The defendants who are the manufacturers of the coca cola brand of soft drinks manufactured the contaminated product knowingly and deceitfully sold same to the plaintiff who bought the contaminated products thereby breaching the legal duty of care owed the plaintiff and other consumers of the product.
The plaintiff has incurred enormous financial and material losses arising from the defendants’ negligence and have in fact continued to suffer de…