The respondents' case was that their ancestor Odutolu was the first person to settle on the land in dispute some time in 1830; that he later brought his brother, Sofoluwe, to live with him on the land and that both of them cultivated and used the land jointly; that Sofoluwe died first, and after the death of Odutolu, the child-ren of both Odutolu and Sofoluwe inherited the land under native law and custom, and continued to use it without partition: that some time in 1972, the respondents saw a building on the land, and upon Inquiry, found that It was being erected by the appellant who, when challenged, claimed that the land had been sold to his father In 1942 by one Idowu Beji, a member of the respondents' family. It was the respondents' case that as the land in dispute was not the personal property of Idowu Beji, he could not have validly sold it to the appellant's father.

The appellant's case was that the land in dispute was the personal property of Idowu Beji, who had inherited the same from his mother, Mosuago, the only issue of Odutolu; that his father Chief Solomon Coker bought the land from Idowu Beji in 1942 and thereafter continued to exercise numerous acts of ownership on the land without disturbance; that in 1945 a formal deed of conveyance (Exhibit C) in respect of the land was executed by the children and sister of Idowu Beji in favour of his father.

Before hearing commenced, counsel were Invited to settle Issues to be deter-mined by the court and both counsel agreed that the issues for determination were:-