Respondents had sued the appellants claiming as follows: -

The case of the respondents was that the first five appellants are descendants of Tubofia under whose regime the original Jack House collapsed and whose parents did not go over to other houses but lived behind during the interregnum i.e. the period without a head until Oba founded the Standfast house and that their ancestors voluntarily joined the Standfast Jack house immediately after the creation of the new house as members of the Standfast Jack House. The 6th appellant is the grandson of Chief Kala Dokubo Standfast Jack who was a full junior brother to Oba and that Kaladokubo gave his senior brother Oba moral courage during the days of his struggle and because of this assistance and also for the fact that Oba’s children were not fully mature during the time of his death, he (Oba) handed over his House to his junior brother Kaladokubo to take care of his house for his children. The respondents contended that the said Kaladokubo took very great care of his brother’s house and handed same over to Chief Reuben, Oba’s son before his death and that Chief Reuben major job was to create a chieftaincy for Kala Dokubo in recognition of the honest role he played during the caretakership of his brother’s house and that Iju was the most powerful chief of Kalabari during the reign of Amachree. They further contended that when Iju/Jack died his full brother Oriki succeeded him because Akufule the 1st adopted son of Iju/Jack was too old to take up the responsibility and that Tubofia ascended to the throne when Iju/Jack house was with wealth and men, but that his reign was calamitous as a result of which the wealth dropped and he became insolvent and that later Oba established his own Chieftaincy stool and called it Standfast Jack house and that an incumbent who succeeds to an existing stool can never change the name of the house but that he created a new stool of his own called Standfast House.

The appellants denied the respondents claim and contended that under Kalabari traditional and custom Duein Wari Fafaa meaning that a chieftaincy stool once created continues in existence as long as members loyal to the stool exists and further maintain that under the Kalabari custom and tradition that a son or adopted son who creates a chieftaincy stool in the name of his father or adopted father does not restrict succession to the stool of his children to the exclusion of other children and that Standfast Jack House is a name adopted by Chief of the Iju/Jack House and does not relate to any specific house and that no where in the treaty was Standfast Jack House the name Stand Fast Jack shown in treaties does not relate to any Chieftaincy House but the name of incumbent Chief and that no where in the treaties was Standfast sack house shown.

The trial Judge granted the respondent’s claim.

The appellants were dissatisfied with the decision and they appealed to the Court of Appeal.