Essentially, the Plaintiffs case as pleaded is that the land in dispute formed part of a larger piece or parcel of land which originally belonged to his ancestor Kpakani with members of his family who founded the same and became the first settlers thereon. The said Plaintiff's ancestor allocated portions of the new found land to his three sons, the eldest of whom was Akwaka. On the death of their father, each of his three sons inherited the portion of the land allocated to him. Similarly on the death of his said sons, their respective portions of the land were inherited by their succeeding descendants. The Plaintiff averred that the land in dispute formed part of the portion of their family land which was allocated to his great grand father, Akwaka, and that he inherited the same as the only surviving male child of his late father. He stated that the defendant was only the son of D.W.2, his elder sister of full blood, whose husband was D.W.1, one Adele Nlerum. He averred that the defendant being the son of the said D.W.1 who did not belong to their family was not entitled to inherit the property of the Plaintiff's great grand father. The Plaintiff claimed that the defendant unlawfully broke into the land and started construction work thereon without his prior consent hence this action.

The Defendant, for his own part, claimed that the land in dispute formed no part of the land which belonged to Kpakani. He averred that the land belonged to the Okpoko family who acquired the same as a spoil of war after "successfully fighting the Rumueme and Rumopara war. The defendant claimed that he bought the land in dispute from Okpoko family in 1978 and was issued with a receipt for the money he paid. He also obtained a conveyance in respect of the transaction. He further claimed to have farmed on the land for a while before he erected his New Era Hotel thereon without let or hindrance from the Plaintiff or any one else. He completed the erection of his hotel on the land in 1981. Consequently he relied on the plea of laches and acquiescence as part of his defence. More importantly, the defendant asserted that his father, D.W.1, at no time married his mother D.W.2 under their applicable Ikwerre customary law. As a result he was a full member of the family of his mother, D.W.2, that is to say, the Plaintiffs family. He contended that as a member of that family, he had equal rights with the Plaintiff and the other male members of the family in respect of the enjoyment of their family properties including land. The defendant in support of his assertion relied on the plea of estoppel as a bar to the Plaintiff's denial that he is a member of that family. He argued that the Plaintiff having regard to his various conduct which he particularised was estopped from claiming that the said defendant did not belong to the Plaintiff's family.

At the conclusion of hearing the learned trial Judge dismissed the Plaintiff's claims.

The Plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeal which court dismissed the appeal.

The Plaintiff further appealed to the Supreme Court