The Appellant as Plaintiff commenced this action at Port Harcourt High Court in 1982 as Suit No.PHC/272/82 against the Respondent as Defendant. The claim was m respect of a dispute arising over the ownership of a house at 185 Ikwerre Road, Port Harcourt. The action was instituted by the Appellant through his attorney, Nnanna Oji Ogbu, the administrator of the estate of Oji Ogbu (deceased).

The Plaintiff's claim as set out in paragraph 9 of the amended statement of claim is as follows:

Pleadings were filed and exchanged and the trial took place before Fiberesima, J. The Plaintiffs case at the trial was that the land in dispute originally belonged to Charles Nyeowa, Michael Oguogbo and Clinton Nmereni. These original owners sold the plot to one John Emeafor and a deed of conveyance executed in favour of this purchaser dated 18th March 1958, was registered as No. 58 at page 58 in Volume 103 at Enugu Land Registry, but now at the Land Registry Port Harcourt. The purchaser, John Emeafor, in turn, sold to the late Oji Ogbu and a deed of conveyance dated 9th May, 1958 and registered as No. 79 at page 79 in Volume 103 at the Land Registry Enugu, but now also at the Land Registry, Port Harcourt. The portion of the land sold to the late Oji Ogbu is shown in the survey plan attached to the conveyance and admitted at the trial as Exhibit 3.

Oji Ogbu, after purchasing the land, cleared it and built three houses on the land. But he had to abandon the property during the Nigerian Civil War and the property was then treated as one of the properties abandoned in Rivers State. The property was later known as No.185 Ikwerre Road, Port Harcourt. After the Civil War, Oji Ogbu, returned to Port Harcourt and the property was released to him. The release was published in the Rivers State Official Gazette No. 43, Volume 6 of 17th October, 1974 and an Instrument of Transfer dated 5th November, 1974 (Exhibit 5) was executed in his favour. Oji Ogbu thereafter continued to exercise all acts of possession and ownership over the property until he died on 3rd April, 1971. He rented the property to tenants and collected rents from the tenants while he was alive. The Administrators of his estate continued to collect rents from the tenant after his death.

In September, 1982, the Defendant forcefully entered the said property and forced the tenants to start paying rents to him. He claimed to be the owner of the property. He also claimed that the land on which the houses in dispute were built was his father's share out of a large parcel of his family land inherited from his said father. He contended that the vendors who sold to the Plaintiff had no authority to sell the land.

The trial Court accepted the Defendant's story and dismissed the Plaintiff's claim. The Court of Appeal also dismissed an appeal filed against the trial Court's judgment. The present appeal is against the decision of the Court of Appeal.