Remedies For Trespass To Property

[Motolani Olayiwola]

REMEDIES TO TRESPASS TO PROPERTY

Here we shall discuss the general remedies for trespass to property, as follows:

1. The major remedy for trespass is an action to claim damages for the trespass to your property. And the court may award you the damage/monetary compensation that is commensurate with the damage you have suffered. This means that the compensation to be given you in award of damages will definitely be higher if your property was completely destroyed than in partial destruction. Remember as I wrote earlier that your property may not necessarily have been destroyed or damaged before you can sue for trespass. It is actionable even where your property is intact.

2. Again, and as stated before, you may make a claim for loss of income. This is particularly so where the property damaged is your source of revenue. This claim entitles you to be compensated for the revenue you had lost while the property was damaged or being repaired.
3. You are entitled to file a case for the enforcement of your fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. In particular, Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees you the right to own an immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. So, a trespass against your immovable property is a negation of your fundamental rights under the Constitution for which you are entitled to seek redress.

4. Where the property is money owed or converted, you are entitled to claim interest on the money at the prevailing bank interest rate, from the time the money/loan became due.

5. Most trespass to property are also criminal in nature. So, where your property was damaged as a result of the trespass, you may, in addition to the civil action, lodge a criminal complaint against the trespasser in which case he may be arrested and prosecuted for the offence.

6. Where there is likelihood of repetition of the trespass, you may ask the court for an order of injunction to prevent the repetition or continuation of the trespass. This is usually useful in cases of trespass to land, where the victim may ask the court for perpetual injunction to restrain the defendant by himself or through his servants or agents from further trespass to his land. Perpetual injunction here means an everlasting order of restraint against the trespasser.

7. You may also ask the court for an order that the defendant restores your property to the state it was before the trespass. This is equally useful in trespass to land where the defendant has dealt with the land in such a manner that is contrary to the use the victim intended of the land. He may ask the court to give an order that the property be restored to its original position.

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