The case of the plaintiff is that he is property owner along Emeka Avenue and that the defendant is in possession of a piece of land with one side facing Osusu Road and the other facing Emekia Avenue. When the plaintiff acquired the piece of land on which he has built a house, there was a footpath. Between 1974 and 1978 it was widened to make it motorable. It stretched from Osusu Road to Nwankpa Street. The plaintiff and the public in general used the road. The defendant in 1978 erected a structure on his own piece of land which blocked and prevented the plaintiff from going out of Emeka Avenue into the Osusu Road. There was protest from plaintiff and neighbours. The defendant appealed to them to be patient and that he would remove the offending structure. The defendant opened up a road on his land to allow the plaintiff and neighbours access from Emeka Avenue to Osusu Road. In 1981 the defendant dug a pit across Emeka Avenue preparatory to erecting a concrete wall fence which will permanently deprive the plaintiff the use of the road. The plaintiff and neighbours reported the matter to the Police who in turn referred it to Eze Ikonne, the traditional ruler, to look into it. He decided that the structure be removed within a month. The defendant did not accept the decision. They went back to the Police who charged everybody concerned in the affair to Court in Charge No. IMA/1913C/81 for conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.

The defendant’s case is that the land is his own. He has been in possession since 1964. He has farmed on it. The plaintiff and neighbours once appealed to him to sell a strip of the land to them to use as a lane. He refused but rather opened a lane for them to use. It was this refusal to sell that prompted the plaintiff and others to report the matter to the Police. The Police referred the matter to the traditional ruler, Eze Ikonne, to look into. He did not accept the decision of the Eze. They again went back to the Police who responded by charging everybody concerned in the affair to court for conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. He got approval from the Aba Local Government Council to build a structure on the land. He has a statutory Certificate of Occupancy over the land.

Judgement was entered for the plaintiff and was awarded N750.00 special damages and granted an injunction. Being dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, the defendant appealed to the Court of Appeal.