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CaseLaw

Adebanjo Vs. Olowosoga (1988) CLR 9(o) (SC)

Judgement delivered on September 29th 1988

Brief

  • Legal capacity
  • Locus standi
  • Right of third party to sue
  • Declaration of title
  • Partition of family land
  • Children and grandchildren

Facts

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal Division sitting in Lagos. On the 2nd October, 1985, in a unanimous judgment read by Kolawole, J.C.A. with which Ademola, J.C.A. and Nnaemeka-Agu J.C.A. (as he then was, but now J.S.C.) concurred, the court set aside the judgment of Desalu, J. of the High Court of Lagos State, sitting at Ikeja and dismissed the claim of the Plaintiff/Appellants for:

  • 1
    A declaration that the plaintiffs are entitled to the Statutory right of occupancy or in the alternative a customary right of occupancy in respect of all piece or parcel of land situated along Lagos Ikorodu Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State which land is now particularly shown and delineated by beacon No. WN2722 and WN 2723 respectively same marked RED in plan NL & L CB 21 registered with the Deed of grant dated 28th day of December, 1959 and registered as No.17 page 17 in Volume 358 of the Land Registry, Ibadan.
  • 2
    Possession of the said land;
  • 3
    Perpetual injunction restraining the defendant his agent OR servant and privies from repeating OR continuing the acts of trespass to the said piece OR Parcel of land”.

The trial Judge dismissed the claim on the ground that only the grantees of the land in dispute as evidenced by the Deed of Grant, Exhibit A, are competent to bring an action against the defendants. Accordingly he held that the plaintiffs had no connection with the land in dispute and therefore were not competent to bring the action against the defendants. Plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeal against the decision.

The appeal was allowed, thus granting them a declaration of entitlement to a statutory right of occupancy. The Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the trial court.

The appellants appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issues

Whether the plaintiff’s claim as disclosed in the writ of summons and...

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