Sometime in the month of April, 1984, a bank draft for N20,000.00 (Twenty thousand Naira) was drawn in favour of the plaintiff/respondent at Apapa branch of the defendant/appellant's bank (hereinafter called the "paying bank" The draft was made payable to the respondent at Asaba branch of the appellant's bank. The respondent deposited the draft in his account at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International Ltd. at No. 107 Upper new Market Road, Onitsha, (hereinafter called "the forwarding bank") for clearance and collection on 21/5/84. When the forwarding bank forwarded the draft to the paying bank for payment (on a date not specified in the briefs), the said paying bank returned the draft unpaid on the ground that it was not. "domiciled". The forwarding bank then returned the draft to the respondent (unpaid) sometime in August, 1984. Sometime in September, 1984, the respondent sued the appellant claiming N500,000.00 (five hundred thousand Naira) as damages for dishonouring his draft. After hearing the case and at the end of the trial, the lower court entered judgment in favour of the respondent in the following terms:-

The defendant/appellant being dissatisfied with the above judgment of the lower court brought this appeal to this court.