Untying the Dilemma of the Tort of Wrongful Interference with Goods in Nigeria

Abstract

Many complexities arise in commercial transactions dealing in goods and products, which create liability under the different torts of conversion, detinue and trespass, although many of these circumstances also trigger liability under separate principles of contract or property law. Due to the constant conflicts in the application of these torts in case-law jurisprudence, many countries have consolidated the different principles of apportioning liability for product interference or interference with goods into a statutory tort of “wrongful interference with goods”. Nigeria is yet to adopt this approach. However, this paper concludes that the discordant application of the torts of conversion, detinue and trespass to goods in judicial decisions in Nigeria exposes a fundamental drawback that requires legislation to correct through the construction of a single unified tort of wrongful interference with goods.