Facts:

The 1st respondent/cross-appellant a customer to the appellant, secured a loan facility from the appellant which was guaranteed by the 3rd – 5th respondents/cross-appellants by the deposit of their title document. In a bid to carry out an international transaction, the 1st respondent/cross-appellant asked the bank to raise an irrevocable Letter of Credit for the importation of PVC. The customer paid the sum of N4,150,000.00(Four Million One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) being the full sum for the foreign exchange for CFA 100,000,000 at the exchange rate of N21.9960 to $1.00. The letter of credit was extended severally at the instance of the customer and by the time the transaction fully went through the exchange rate had changed based on the directive of the CBN. The appellant, therefore, shifted the liability of the change of the exchange rate to the customer debiting her account in the bank with the sum of N12,302,106.88 which is the shortfall from the transaction due to change in the exchange rate.

The Respondent who was Claimant at the lower Court claimed that she had fully paid off the facility granted it and so the properties used as security should be returned to her. The Appellant as Defendant insisted that the Customer was not entitled to the return of the security because she still owes the bank.

Judgment was granted in favour of the Respondents at the trial Court wherein it held that the respondent was entitled to repossess its title documents. The court also dismissed the counter claims of the Appellant.

Dissatisfied by the decision of the trial Court, the appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, the Respondent also cross appealed.