It is now an established cardinal rule of procedural law that relief/prayer must be pleaded and served for the defence to respond to it.[1]The importance of prayer in a statement of claim, which is a critical process in adjectival law, cannot be underscored. Every statement of claim terminates with a prayer. In the absence of the prayer portion of it, a statement of claim is deemed as bare assertions and liable to be struck out.[2]
[1]Stowe v Benstowe (2012) 9 NWLR (Pt 1306) 450.
[2] Oyeyemi v Owoeye (2017) 12 NWLR (Pt 1580) 364; Effiom and others v Offiong and others (2019) LPELR-47975(CA)12-17 paras D-B.