Alhaji Latifu Ajuwon & Ors V. Madam Alimotu Adeot (1990)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

WALI, J.S.C. 

For clarity and easy understanding of this case, I shall refer to the respondent and the appellants as plaintiff and defendants respectively as done by the Court of Appeal.

The plaintiff, as per her amended writ of summons, sued the defendants in the High Court of Justice, Oyo State of Nigeria, Ibadan Judicial Division, claiming as follows:-

“1. The plaintiff’s claim against the defendants jointly and severally for possession of the shops and building erected by the defendants on the plaintiff’s family land, situated and being at Aremo Ibadan, without the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff’s family and in breach of the judgment in suit No.CV A.23/64 which awarded the plaintiff’s family declaration of title and injunction against the defendant’s family to all the parcel of land covered by plan OG.27A/62. The plan of the land showing recent building will be filed later. Annual rental value of the land is N20.”

The pleadings originally filed by both parties in which issues were joined were also amended. The plaintiff’s case against the defendants, briefly stated is as contained in the following paragraphs of her Statement of Claim:-

“9. The plaintiff’s maternal grandfather, one Aganku derived title to the land by virtue of a grant by Ojo Oronna over 100 years ago.

10. Aganku built houses on the land in his lifetime before he died during the reign of Bale Oshuntoki 1895-1897.
11. After the death of Aganku, the descendants of Aganku continued to farm on the land without any disturbance from anybody.
12. The land being claimed by the plaintiff is shown on plan No.OG.544/80 drawn by Akin Ogunbiyi licensed surveyor dated 20th of August, 1980 and verged RED and the new buildings erected by the defendants after judgment in suit Nos.U42J63 and CVA/23/64 are verged Green.
13. The 1st – 4th defendants in suit no.CVA/23/64 were restricted to the houses owned by them as at the time of judgment on 7th November, 1966 and plan No.OG/27A/62 in the following terms:

(i) The plaintiff and his Aganku family are hereby declared the owner of the land verged RED on plan No.OG/27A/62 dated 29/1/62.

(ii) The defendants and members of their respective households may continue in occupation of their respective houses and other building now on the land verged RED on plan No.OG.27A/62 but may not erect any other buildings on the said land without the permission of the plaintiff.

14. The plaintiff appealed against the above judgment which refused the injunction but the appeal was dismissed thereby confirming the judgment as set out in paragraph 13 above.
15. The defendants have since the judgment in appeal No.CVA/23/64 trespassed and built the houses verged green without the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff’s family.”

The defendant’s case is as also stated in the following paragraphs of their amended Statement of Defence:-

“13. Agbongun was a warrior and he came from Oyo-Ile and first settled at Oja-Iba, Ibadan with Bashorun Oluyole.

14. After a short stay at Oja-Iba, Bashorun Oluyole granted Agbongun land at Oranyan, Ibadan where he again settled down with his family.
15. After a long spell at Oranyan and because of the frequent death of the children of Agbongun, Agbongun finally moved his remaining members of family to Aremo, Ibadan, on the land he had earlier acquired and on which he was carrying on farming activities.
16. Agbongun built another house at Aremo, Ibadan which was inhabited by members of his family and he named the said house “Oke bo Olorun pelu.”
17. Agbongun settled at Aremo before Aperin did settle there.
18. After Agbongun had settled his entire family at Aremo, Ibadan comfortably, he went back to Oyo-Ile from where he brought his junior brother, Aganku to stay with him at Aremo.
19. Agbongun acted faithfully to Aganku in loco parentis; funding a marriage for him (Aganku).
20. Agbongun later granted parcels of land to many people including his father-in-law, called Adigun, Bolarinwa, who was the ancestor of the 3rd defendant; Adejinmi, Ajayi Odegbenle, the ancestor of the 5th defendant; Oshingbaosu and Fabikan the ancestor of the 4th defendant, all the grantees built up the different parcel of land so granted to them by Agbongun.
21. The defendants will contend at the trial of this case that Ojo Oronna had no land near the land of Agbongun at Aremo, Ibadan.
22. With reference to paragraph 11 of the Statement of Claim, the defendants aver that Aganku built up only that parcel of land so granted to him by Agbongun which is quite distinct from the other grants made by Agbongun or the remaining parcel of land of Agbongun at Aremo, Ibadan.
23. With regard to paragraph 12 of the Statement of Claim, the defendants aver that all the buildings of the defendants’ different families occupying the different holdings so granted to them by Agbongun had been built and occupied by the defendant’s families long before suits no.1/4/63 and CVA/23/64.
24. The defendants will contend at the trial that no new buildings were set up by them after 1973.”

Both parties called witnesses. Survey plans of the disputed land in a previous case and the present case were tendered through P.W.3, a licensed surveyor and admitted in evidence as exhibits C and D respectively. Also tendered and admitted in evidence through witnesses called by the plaintiff were Certified True Copies of judgments between the plaintiff’s family and the defendants and these were marked as exhibits A, A1,B,E and F. At the conclusion of the case for both the plaintiff and the defendants, and on the application of Mr. Aderemi, learned counsel for the defendants, the learned trial Judge went and inspected the land in dispute. As shown by the record the learned trial Judge was accompanied by the parties and their counsel to wit Messrs. Adebola and Aderemi for the plaintiff and the defendants respectively. At the locus, the learned trial judge made some notes and when the court reconvened in the court hall, he read out his notes to the parties and their counsel. P.W.3 and 2nd defendant were recalled for further re-examination and cross-examination. Learned counsel then addressed the court and judgment was reserved to 17th January, 1983. On that date, the learned trial Judge in a well considered judgment, dismissed the plaintiff’s case against the 2nd and 4th defendants and found against the 1st, 3rd and 5th defendants as follows –

“On the totality of the evidence, I find as a fact that the shops in front of the 3rd defendant’s buildings said to be built by the 3rd defendant; and the houses shown verged green stretching from the Aperin/Aremo road to the 3rd defendant’s buildings and built by the 1st and 5th defendants (the house immediately abutting the road aforementioned being the 5th defendant’s) were all built after the 1963 case.

I hold on the evidence before me that all the defendants are bound by the judgment in the 1963 case. The 1st defendant is a member of the family represented by Salami Agbongun in the 1963 case. The 1st defendant’s evidence before me and a careful study of the judgment relating to that case both at first instance and on appeal show that the case was defended by Salami Agbongun not in his own right but in a representative capacity.

The 3rd defendant is a party to the 1963 case. The 5th defendant has not proved to my satisfaction that he derived title to the area he built on before 1963 action. In the result the limited injunction contained in exhibit A in terms earlier set out is binding on the 1st and 3rd defendants. The 5th defendant is bound by the judgment declaring the plaintiff’s family to be the owner of the land. He has not proved that he derived title from that family.