Death as a Cause of Action in Law: What Families of Accident Victims Can Claim

In June 2012, Dana Airlines Flight 992 crashed into a densely populated residential area at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, killing all 153 persons on board and 10 people on the ground. Among the dead were fathers, mothers, breadwinners, and children. Their families were left not only with grief but with the immediate, crushing financial reality of lost income and lost support.

The law’s response to this tragedy illustrates one of the most important and underappreciated areas of Nigerian tort law: death as a cause of action. The question is not just whether someone is criminally responsible for the deaths. The question that tort law asks is: what are the surviving family members and dependants entitled to receive in compensation for the financial loss they have suffered as a result of the death?

This article explains the legal framework governing that question in Nigeria, including the landmark Supreme Court judgment of January 2025 in the Dana Airlines litigation, which has clarified and expanded the categories of damages available to the families of accident victims.

The Historical Problem: Death Once Extinguished All Claims

To understand why the Fatal Accidents Act exists, you must first understand the common law position it replaced. Under English common law, the maxim actio personalis moritur cum persona applied: a personal action dies with the person. This meant that when a person was killed through the negligence of another, any right of action the deceased had against the wrongdoer died with him. His family had no independent right to sue for the financial loss they suffered as a result of his death.

The absurdity of this position became undeniable in the 1830s, when the explosive growth of the railway industry across England produced an epidemic of railway deaths. Railway companies could negligently kill passengers with virtual legal impunity. The pressure for reform led Lord Campbell to introduce a bill in 1845, which became the Fatal Accidents Act 1846. That Act gave the deceased’s personal representatives the right to bring legal action for the benefit of the surviving family.

Nigeria inherited this framework. The extant statute is the Fatal Accidents Act 1961 and its equivalent state laws, which apply to all types of fatal accidents, not merely road or railway incidents.

What Is Death as a Cause of Action?

Death as a cause of action is the right granted by statute to the dependants and family of a deceased person to sue the defendant for damages suffered as a result of the wrongful death of their provider. It is not an action for the grief or emotional loss suffered by the family, though some heads of damages are now recognised to compensate for this. It is primarily an action for the pecuniary loss caused by the death: the money the family would have received from the deceased had he lived.

The damages awarded are not intended to enrich the family. They are meant to sustain the family in as good an economic position as they would have been in had the deceased continued to live and provide for them.

Critically, the right of action for wrongful death is purely statutory. It does not exist at common law. This means that if the applicable statute does not cover the circumstances of a particular death, there may be no claim.

The Two Types of Action: Estate Claims and Dependency Claims

Nigerian law provides two distinct avenues of recovery when a person is killed through another’s wrongdoing, and it is important to understand the difference.

1. Claims by the Estate of the Deceased

Under the common law as modified by legislation in Nigeria, the estate of the deceased can bring an action for losses suffered by the deceased himself before death: pain and suffering prior to death, medical expenses incurred before dying, and loss of earnings in the period between the injury and the date of death. This claim belongs to the estate and is distributed according to the deceased’s will or the laws of intestacy.

2. Claims by Dependants Under the Fatal Accidents Act

This is the more practically significant claim. It is a fresh cause of action created by statute for the benefit of the surviving dependants. It is not derived from any right the deceased himself had. It belongs to the dependants personally, and compensates them for the loss of the financial support they would have received from the deceased.

The Fatal Accidents Act 1961 and State Equivalents

The principal Nigerian legislation is the Fatal Accidents Act 1961, which has been adopted and adapted by various states:

• Fatal Accidents Law 1961, Cap. 40 (Lagos State)
• Fatal Law, Cap. 122 (Western States)
• Fatal Accidents Law, Cap. 52 (Eastern States)
• Fatal Accidents Law, Cap. 43 (Northern States)

These statutes apply to all types of fatal accidents: road accidents, workplace accidents, plane crashes, building collapses, medical negligence deaths, electrocution, and any other situation where a person dies as a result of the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death Claims in Nigeria

Road Accidents

Road accidents are by far the most common source of fatal accident claims in Nigerian courts. The country has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) records tens of thousands of road deaths annually. In virtually every case where a driver’s negligence causes a fatal accident, the dependants of the deceased have a potential claim under the Fatal Accidents Act.

In Olayinka v Lakin (1972) 4 CCHCJ 100, the dependants of a deceased cyclist brought a fatal accident claim after the defendant’s negligent driving caused the cyclist’s death. The court apportioned liability, finding the deceased seventy percent contributorily negligent, which reduced the dependants’ award accordingly.

The practical reality, as noted in our article on Negligence in Torts, is that in most road accident cases, the real defendant with capacity to pay is the driver’s insurance company or, in the case of commercial vehicles, the transport company’s insurer.

Aviation Accidents: The Dana Airlines Case

The most significant recent development in Nigerian fatal accident law came from the Dana Airlines tragedy. On January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered its judgment in Anibaba v Dana Airlines Limited and Stacy Veolette Sellers (SC/CV/1191/2022), a landmark decision arising from the June 3, 2012 crash that killed all 153 persons on board and 10 people on the ground at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.

Mr Femi Anibaba, whose wife died in the crash, brought the action claiming damages from Dana Airlines and the personal representative of the estate of the pilot, who was alleged to have been negligent. The Supreme Court’s judgment in this case is significant for several reasons.

First, the court recognised damages for emotional pain, suffering, loss of companionship, and affection as compensatory general damages in fatal aviation accident claims. This expanded the categories of damages available in Nigerian fatal accident litigation, moving beyond the traditionally narrow focus on purely pecuniary loss. These awards, the court held, fall under general damages rather than punitive damages, meaning they do not require proof of egregious conduct by the defendant.

Second, the judgment provides clarity on how the Montreal Convention (the international treaty governing liability for international aviation accidents) interacts with Nigerian domestic law, which will be relevant to future aviation accident claims involving foreign carriers.

The Dana Airlines crash also illustrates the practical enforcement challenges of fatal accident law in Nigeria. The Federal High Court in Lagos had ruled that Dana Airlines was obligated to pay the statutory advance payment of USD $30,000 to each victim’s family within thirty days of the accident under the Civil Aviation Act. Yet years after the crash, many families had still not received their full compensation. Of the 153 families affected, only 11 had received full settlements of $100,000 each, with 95 others receiving initial partial payments of $30,000. The ground victims, ten people killed when the plane ploughed into their residential area, faced even greater difficulty in securing compensation.

Electrocution and Utility Company Deaths

In N.E.P.A. v Auwal, NEPA was ordered to pay N10 million after its servants negligently left uncovered electrical wires on the ground, and a ten-year-old child stepped on them and was electrocuted. The child’s family brought a fatal accident claim, and the Supreme Court upheld the award against NEPA.

This type of claim remains highly relevant today. Exposed wires, transformer explosions, and electrical infrastructure failures continue to kill Nigerians annually, and the electricity distribution companies that have replaced NEPA are equally subject to liability for their negligence.

Medical Negligence Deaths

Where a patient dies as a result of medical negligence in a Nigerian hospital, the family has a potential claim under the Fatal Accidents Act. Common examples include deaths from surgical errors, anaesthesia failures, failure to diagnose a treatable condition, postoperative neglect, and transfusion of incompatible blood.

As noted in our discussion of negligence, medical negligence is significantly underlitigated in Nigeria due to the cost of litigation, the difficulty of obtaining expert evidence, and the length of court proceedings. However, the legal framework exists, and families who lose a breadwinner to medical negligence should be aware that they have a potential claim.

Workplace Accidents

An employee killed at work as a result of his employer’s failure to provide a safe working environment gives rise to both a negligence claim and a fatal accident claim by his dependants. This is particularly relevant in the construction, oil and gas, and manufacturing industries, which account for a significant proportion of workplace fatalities in Nigeria.

Who May Bring the Action?

Under the Fatal Accidents Act, the action must be brought by an executor (a person appointed by the deceased’s will to administer the estate) or an administrator (a person appointed under customary law or by a court to represent the deceased’s estate where there is no will). The action is brought on behalf of the dependants.

The key cases on standing to bring the action include:

• Ugbobor v Onukafor (1966) 2 All N.L.R. 113
• Anamali v Ijirigho (1960) 5 S.C. 97

Who Is Entitled to Benefit?

The dependants entitled to benefit from a fatal accident claim include the spouse, children, parents, and any other person who was wholly or partially financially dependent on the deceased at the time of death. The key word is dependency: the claimant must show that they actually depended on the deceased for financial support, and that this support would have continued but for the death.

A widow with young children who depended entirely on her husband’s salary has a straightforward dependency claim. An adult child who was self-supporting and received no financial assistance from the deceased parent does not.

How Damages Are Assessed

The Multiplier-Multiplicand Method

Nigerian courts generally assess fatal accident damages by applying what is known as the multiplier-multiplicand method, derived from Davies v Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries Ltd (1942) AC 601.

The multiplicand is the annual value of the dependency: the amount the deceased was contributing to the dependant’s maintenance each year. This is calculated from the deceased’s proven net earnings, less what he would have spent on himself.

The multiplier reflects how many years the dependency would have continued, discounted for uncertainties such as the possibility that the deceased might have died prematurely anyway, or that the dependant might have become financially independent.

In Osholake v Lagos City Council (1972) 12 CCHCJ 56, the Nigerian court applied this approach in assessing the dependency claim of a family whose breadwinner was killed through the council’s negligence.

What the 2025 Supreme Court Added

The Anibaba v Dana Airlines judgment (2025) is important because it confirms that Nigerian courts can now award damages beyond purely financial dependency, including compensation for pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and loss of affection. While these have always been claimed in fatal accident litigation, the Supreme Court has now clearly classified them as recoverable compensatory general damages rather than punitive damages, which removes a significant technical barrier that defendants had previously used to resist such claims.

This development brings Nigerian law more in line with the human reality of what a fatal accident means to a family: it is not just a financial calculation. The loss of a parent, spouse, or child involves pain, grief, and the permanent absence of a person whose value to the family cannot be fully expressed in money.

Proof of Dependency

The plaintiff must prove that the dependants were financially dependent on the deceased, and that this dependency would have continued. This is done through evidence of the deceased’s earnings, the family’s financial arrangements, and testimony about the contributions the deceased made to the household. See Shashie v Salako (1976) N.M.L.R. 160 and Uko v West African Portland Cement Co. Ltd (1973) 9 CCHCJ 11.

Where the deceased had no formal employment but made informal contributions to the family (as is common in Nigeria’s large informal economy), the courts will still assess the dependency, though proof may be more challenging.

Deductions

Certain benefits received by the dependants as a result of the death may be deducted from the award. These include insurance payments, pension benefits, and inherited property. However, not all benefits are deductible, and the specific rules depend on the applicable statute and the circumstances. See Owolo v Olise (1967) F.N.L.R. 179 and Kodilinye and Aluko, pages 279-280.

Contributory Negligence

Where the deceased was himself contributorily negligent in the circumstances that led to his death, the dependants’ damages will be reduced proportionately. In Olayinka v Lakin (1972) 4 CCHCJ 100, the dependants’ award was reduced by seventy percent because the deceased cyclist had contributed substantially to the accident that killed him. This means that even where a family has a valid fatal accident claim, the conduct of the deceased himself is relevant to the amount they recover.

Limitations on the Claim

Several factors may limit or defeat a fatal accident claim:

Prior settlement or judgment: If the deceased had already recovered damages for his personal injuries before death, or had accepted a settlement, there can be no further fatal accident claim by his dependants.

Limitation period: The claim must be brought within the period prescribed by the applicable statute. Missing the deadline extinguishes the right to sue.

Participation in a criminal affray: If the deceased was killed while participating in a criminal activity, this may deprive his estate of a cause of action, and his dependants may be unable to claim.

No living dependant: A fatal accident claim requires surviving dependants who actually suffered financial loss. If the deceased had no dependants, the estate claim is the only avenue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the family of a road accident victim sue in Nigeria? Yes. Under the Fatal Accidents Act 1961 and the applicable state law, the dependants of a person killed through another’s negligence may bring a civil claim for compensation. The action is brought by the executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate, on behalf of the dependants. The defendant is typically the negligent driver and, more practically, the driver’s insurer or employer.

How much compensation can a family receive for wrongful death in Nigeria? This depends on the deceased’s earnings, the number and nature of the dependants, and the specific circumstances. The court uses a multiplier-multiplicand approach. Additional damages may now be awarded for pain, suffering, and loss of companionship following the 2025 Supreme Court judgment in Anibaba v Dana Airlines. There is no fixed maximum, but awards in high-profile cases have ranged from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of naira.

Can a family sue an airline for the death of a passenger in Nigeria? Yes. The Civil Aviation Act provides for statutory advance compensation of USD $30,000 per victim, payable within thirty days of the accident. Beyond this statutory minimum, families may sue for full damages in negligence and under the Fatal Accidents Act. The 2025 Anibaba v Dana Airlines Supreme Court judgment is the leading authority on the damages recoverable in such cases.

Does the Fatal Accidents Act cover deaths from medical negligence? Yes. The Act applies to all types of wrongful death, including deaths resulting from medical negligence in Nigerian hospitals. However, medical negligence claims are more technically complex, requiring expert evidence and proof that the standard of care was breached.

Conclusion

Death as a cause of action sits at the intersection of grief and law. Nigerian law has, since 1961, provided a framework for families and dependants to seek financial compensation when their breadwinner or provider is wrongfully killed. The framework is imperfect: litigation in Nigeria is slow, enforcement of judgments is difficult, and many families, particularly those of less prominent or less affluent victims, never receive the compensation the law entitles them to.

But the law is there. The Fatal Accidents Act exists. The courts have applied it in road accident cases, plane crash cases, electrocution cases, and workplace fatality cases. The Supreme Court’s January 2025 judgment in Anibaba v Dana Airlines has expanded the categories of recoverable damages to include emotional pain and loss of companionship, making the law more responsive to the human reality of what wrongful death means to a family.

For Nigerian law students, understanding this area requires reading it alongside our articles on Negligence in Torts and Defences to Negligence, since almost every fatal accident claim is grounded in negligence. See also our article on Defamation in Nigerian Law for a separate area of law where reputation rather than life is at stake.

References:

• Kodilinye and Aluko, The Nigerian Law of Torts (Spectrum Books, Lagos, 1995), pages 269-280
• Eni Eja Alobo, Law of Tort (Princeton Publishing Company, 2013)
• Fatal Accidents Act 1961 (Nigeria)
• Anibaba v Dana Airlines Limited and Stacy Veolette Sellers (2025) SC/CV/1191/2022 (Supreme Court of Nigeria, January 17, 2025)
• N.E.P.A. v Auwal (Supreme Court of Nigeria)
• S.P.A. Ajibade and Co., “The Supreme Court of Nigeria Delivers a Landmark Judgment in Relation to the Damages Recoverable in Fatal Aviation Accident Claims,” Mondaq (February 2025)