Nanta Orianwo & Ors V. L. O. Okene & Ors (2002)
LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report
E. OGUNDARE, JSC.
In Suit No.PHC/119/81 in the Port Harcourt Judicial Division of the High Court of Rivers State, Nnanta Orianwo, Richard Wosu, Franklin Amadi, Thomas Acho and Boniface Elewa, for themselves and on behalf of Rumuorianwo Wogozo Family (hereinafter are referred to as Plaintiffs) sued L. O. Okene, Harrison Okene and Maxwell Okene, for themselves and as representing the Okene Amadi Family (hereinafter are referred to as Defendants), claiming as per paragraph 24 of their amended statement of claim:
(i) A declaration of the plaintiffs’ customary right of occupancy to all that piece or parcel of land known as and called Ohia Otuloro lying and situate at Rumuokwurusi, Obio, Port Harcourt, which said piece or parcel of land is more particularly delineated and verged red on the survey plan No. FO/1A/82 L.D. annexed to this statement of claim.
(ii) N50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira) being general damages for trespass committed by the defendants on the portion of the plaintiffs’ said land outside the area verged brown on the said survey plan;
(iii) A perpetual injunction to restrain the defendants and each of them whether by themselves, their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from entering the plaintiffs’ said land or ever interfering with the plaintiffs in their possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of their said land, save and except the said portion of land verged brown.
Pleadings were filed and exchanged and, with leave of court, amended.
Shortly after the above suit was instituted, Harrison Okene and Emmanuel Okene, on behalf of themselves and other members of Okene Family instituted a cross action in suit No. PHC/126/81 CLAIMING FROM Fyneface Lawa, Cyprian Lawa and James Achor:-
the sum of N20,000.00 as special and general damages for trespass committed on the Plaintiffs’ land known as OTULORO situate at Rumuwokerebe Village, Rumuokwurusi within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court;
- perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their privies, agents and servants from further acts of trespass on the said land.
Following the death of Harrison Okene, Lawrence Okene was by order of court substituted in his place. Pleadings were ordered, filed and exchanged and, by leave of court, amended. The plaintiffs in the action also filed a reply to the statement of defence.
As the two actions related to the same land and were between the same families, the suit No. PHC/126/81 was, on the application of learned counsel for the parties in the case, transferred by order of court to the court handling suit No. PHC/119/81 presided over by Ungbuku, J., as he then was. And on the application of plaintiffs in suit No. PHC/126/81 and defendants in suit, No. PHC/119/81, the two suits were, by order of court made on 31/10/85, consolidated. It was further ordered that-
By this consolidation the Plaintiffs in Suit PHC/119/81 are the Plaintiffs and the defendants in the said suit who are plaintiffs in Suit No. PHC/126/81 are the defendants.
At the trial, Plaintiffs called 6 witnesses in support of their case. The Defendants called 5 witnesses. At the conclusion of trial and after addresses by learned counsel for the parties, the learned trial Judge (Ungbuku, J) in a well considered judgment found for the Plaintiffs and entered judgment in their favour in terms of their claims in Suit No. PHC/119/81; he dismissed the Defendants’ suit No. PHC/126/81.
The Plaintiffs’ case is that one Wokerebe was the original owner of the land known as Otua Otuloro in Rumuokwurisi Village, Obio, Port Harcourt. Wokerebe (or Okerebe) lived many years ago. At his death he left behind 9 sons named (in order of seniority by age) Wosu, Wogozo, Ikeani, Wuche, Chukwuntu, Amadi, Wolu, Ndumati and Okekem. The Plaintiffs descended from Wogozo while the Defendants descended from Amadi. Only Wosu, Wogozo, Ikeani and Wuche were adults at the time of the death of their father Wokerebe and it was only these four sons that performed the burial rites of their father and took part in the sharing of his estate. The other five sons being minors, did not share in the estate of Wokerebe; they were instead given to the older sons as wards. Amadi, Defendants’ ancestor was given as ward to Ikeani who took him in and gave him land to settle upon. It is the case of the Plaintiffs that according to Ikwerre custom only male children who performed the burial rites of their father can inherit his estate. The five sons of Wokerebe, that is, Chukwunta, Amadi, Wolu, Ndumali and Okekem, being minors at the time Wokerebe died, did not take part in his burial rites and, therefore, did not inherit in his estate. Wokerebe’s lands were shared between Wosu, Wogozo, Ikeani and Wuche. The land Ohia Otuloro was shared between Wosu and Wogozo; an ancient footpath marked their boundary.
When Amadi was living with Ikeani, he committed adultery with Ikeani’s wife for which Ikeani drove him away from his land. Amadi sought refuge with Wogozo who gave him part of his Ohia Otuloro to settle. Amadi soon got into another trouble. Wogozo had died then and had been succeeded by his son Orianwo. Amadi killed the cow of one Chief Okpoko of Maleri village and dumped the carcass in a pit. Chief Okpoko grew annoyed and invoked his juju to punish the wrongdoer. The juju killed some of Amadi’s children; only his son Okene escaped death. Amadi, in fear for his life, had to run back to Ikeani’s land with his son Okene. Ikeani had died then. Amadi was taken back and resettled on the old land given him by Ikeani. There he lived and died and was buried. His son Okene also lived there. When Okene’s family grew large and the land became insufficient for them to live on, Okene in 1946 approached the Plaintiff’s family for permission for his children to reoccupy part of Plaintiffs’ land that was previously given to his father, Amadi by Wogozo. Onyenweibea was the head of Plaintiffs’ family at that time. Onyenweibea gave permission to Okene who settled thereon his children Harrison Okene, Maxwell Okene and Emmanuel Okene, all of whom built houses on the land. The portion of Ohia Otuloro given to Amadi and on which Okene’s children later settled is demarcated on Plaintiffs’ land Exhibit A in this case. Plaintiffs remained in possession of the rest of Ohia Otuloro belonging to them. Okene and his first son Isaiah Okene lived and died in Ikeani’s compound and were buried there.
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