CaseLaw
Onuwaje V. Ogbeide (1991) CLR 4(g) (CA)
Brief
Facts
The plaintiff’s case, briefly, is that the land is dispute is part of a larger area of land granted to him by the Oba of Benin in accordance with the Benin Customary Law. According to him, the land granted to him, is in the area of Ward 17/H, in the Government Reservation Area (G.R.A.), within the Benin City walls. By an application dated 20/2/63, he applied to the Oba of Benin through the Plot Allocation Committee for Ward 17/H, for a parcel of land measuring 200ft by 800ft later amended to 200ft by 600ft which was found to be available. Two pointers namely, Daniel Amadasun (P.W.3) who was a member of the Plot Allocation Committee and the late Omokaro, then the Secretary of the Committee, were sent to inspect the land. They carried out the inspection and reported favourably to, and approved by the Oba of Benin on 29/1/64. Thereafter, he went into possession, cleared the land, farmed on it and had it surveyed, and in 1969 the Oba of Benin executed a deed of conveyance dated 11/11/69 Exh.’2’ in respect of the land, in his favour. It is the plaintiff’s case that he remained in undisturbed possession of the land until January, 1978 when Aburime and Ayoyegbe trespassed on a portion thereof, in consequence of which, he sued them to court in suit No. B/116/87. While that suit was still pending he trespassed on another portion of the same land and on being warned, he asserted at various times that he got the land from Sagay or Awoyegbe that latter being one of the defendants in suit No. B/116/87. He applied to join the present defendant in that suit to no avail and in the result he initiated the present proceedings. To prosecute it, he engaged a surveyor Otasowie Osaikhuian (P.W.1) who produced a litigation plan Exh. ‘1’
The case for the defendant is that the land in dispute is part of the land originally allocated by the Oba of Benin in 1974 to Ezekiel Sagay (D.W.4) from who, the defendant in 1976, in consideration of the sum of five thousand naira purchased it as per receipt Exhibit ‘3’. The land is in Etete Village outside the Benin City walls and within the jurisdiction of the Etete Village for a piece of land measuring 200ft by 200ft. The application was processed. The then Chairman of the Etete Plot Allocation Committee Chief Sunday Omorodion, the Onogie of Etete (D.W.2) and the Secretary of the Committee Mr. D. Owie inspected the land and having found it free from dispute, recommended the application which thereafter received the Oba’s approval on 26/7/74. After the approval, he sold one half of the land allocated to him to Uhuangho and the other half to the defendant. The defendant took possession of the land in dispute cleared the rubber trees thereon having paid the sum of N2,000 to the owner of the rubber plantation. Thereafter, the defendant moulded blocks, fenced the land in dispute and commenced the erection of a storey-building thereon in 1976. In May, 1979 the plaintiff surfaced to disturb the defendant’s workers who were then at the stage of painting after wiring the house. The defendant admitted that the land in dispute shares a common boundary with that of Awoyegbe and Abuime and that he resisted being joined in the action against them by the plaintiff.
The trial court entered judgment in favour of the respondent. The present appeal was brought by the appellant against that judgment.