The plaintiffs, to whom I shall henceforth refer where appropriate as the respondents, claim to have inherited the area of land leased to the Registered Trustees of the Synod of the Diocese on the Niger by the then Government of erstwhile Eastern Nigeria. The said lease was registered as No. 87 of page 87 in volume 349 of the Lands Registry in the office at Enugu but now at Owerri. The necessary facts were averred in paragraph 4 of the amended statement of claim and because they are of utmost importance, I shall reproduce them as follows: -

This piece of land is part of a larger area of land leased to the Registered Trustees of the Synod of the Diocese on the Niger by the then Government of Eastern Nigeria as represented by the then Governor of Eastern Nigeria and the then Minister of Town Planning Eastern Nigeria vide a memorandum of agreement dated 6th day of August, 1963 and registered as No. 87 on page 87 in volume 349 of the Lands registry formerly in the office at Enugu but now at Owerri. The Diocese of Aba to which St. Stephen's Anglican Church Umuahia belongs has now inherited the said piece or parcel of land. The said area of land is covered by and shown in the plan No. UMA 116 annexed to the memorandum of agreement referred to above. The exact portion of the said land now in dispute is clearly marked and verged pink in plan No. VLD: 30/82 filed with this statement of claim. A certified copy of the said memorandum of agreement and the plan shall be founded upon at the hearing."

The defendant, now the appellant, denied the essential facts pleaded in the paragraph of the statement of claim reproduced above. She also specifically demanded proof that the respondents inherited the said land from the Synod of the Diocese on the Niger.