Chief Nelson Amadi & Ors v. Chief Richard Orlu & Ors (2023)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report – SUPREME COURT

ADAMU JAURO, JSC (Delivering the leading judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, which set aside the judgment of the High Court of Rivers State which had earlier dismissed suit No. IHC/105/2002 filed by the respondents and granted the reliefs sought by the appellants in suit No. IHC/26/2003.

The respondents instituted suit No. IHC/105/2002 via a writ of summons and statement of claim.

In their amended statement of claim, the following reliefs were sought:

“i. A declaration that the customary right of occupancy in and over all that piece or parcel of land known as and called “Izoekegbu/Mininzu” lying and situate at Igwuruta-Ali, Igwuruta, in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria, belongs to the Omuegwu family of Igwuruta-Ali;

ii. N50,000,000.00 (fifty million naira) being general damages for trespass;

iii. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and members of the Umuogo family of Umuechem, Etche, in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria, together with their servants and agents from committing any further acts oftrespass on the said Izoekegbu/Mininzu land; and

iv. An order permitting the claimants to enter and take immediate possession of the said Izoekegbu/Mininzu land.”

In apparent response to the respondents’ suit, the appellants filed suit No. IHC/26/2003, which was in essence a cross-action on the same parcel of land and claimed as follows in their statement of claim:

“1. A declaration that the claimants are the people entitled to the Customary Right of Occupancy over and in respect of all that piece or parcel of land known as and called Egbelu-Umuogo land lying and situate at Umuechem village in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State of Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this honourable court and which said farmland is falsely described and called Izoekeugbu Mininzu by the claimants in suit No. IHC/105/2002.

2. N100,000,000.00 (one hundred million naira) being general damages for trespass over and in respect of the said Egbelu Umuogo farmland.
3. An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants their servants and/or agents from further acts of trespass upon the said land.”

The suits were consolidated and heard together. Their suit being the first in time, the respondents were designated as the claimants, while the appellants were regarded as the defendants. The respondents as claimants called seven witnesses, while the appellants as defendants called eight witnesses.

It was the case of the respondents that the land in dispute was founded by their ancestor, Egwu, his children, Nwahia, Okechihea, Chimkpo as well as their families. They were said to have fled their ancestral home of Igwuruta-Ali in order to escape from slave raiders and that they exercised numerous acts of ownership, such as clearing and farming thereon. Egwu was said to have developed a cordial relationship with the people of the neighbouring Abara Community and that they shared common markets and participated in the same wrestling and dancing competitions, festivals, etc. with members of the said community. It was the further case of the respondents that Egwu and his children later returned to their ancestral home after the end of the slave raid, but still continued to enjoy undisturbed possession over the disputed land. It was stated that after the death of Egwu, the land devolved on his descendants as family property.

It was also the case of the respondents that sometime in 1964, Agbam and Nwajoku, both members of the appellants’ family approached one Opurum Ogbuji of the respondents’ family seeking for land to farm. This request was said to have been conveyed to the respondents’ family who granted the request on the condition that the appellants’ Umuogo family would pay tribute of one goat, six jars of palm wine, one bottle of hot drink, etc. The Umuogo family was said to have paid the tribute and were allowed to farm. They were said to have paid the tribute again in 1971 after the Nigerian Civil War. It was however stated that the appellants started laying claim to the land and even presented themselves to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as those entitled to compensation in respect of the parcel of land upon establishment of two oil locations (OTAMIRI 3 and OTAMIRI 6) thereon by SPDC. The appellants were then said to have been driven away from the land in dispute. The respondents also stated that sometime in 1962, the then Niger Delta Rubber Company sought to acquire land for its rubber plantation and the company approached the Abara community, but the company was referred to the respondents’ family because the land sought to be acquired included portions of the land in dispute. After negotiations, the Abara community, the respondents’ family and other families thereafter jointly granted a lease of their lands to the company. The respondents stated that they have been receiving rents from the Niger Delta Rubber Company and its successor-in-title, the Delta Rubber Company Limited since 1962 and are still being paid annual rents by the company. The respondents are part of an association of landlords (Rubber Estate Landlords Association) to the Delta Rubber Company Limited. They however stated that the appellants have continued to trespass on the land in dispute.

On the part of the appellants, it was their case that their ancestor, Echem who founded the land in dispute, although they did not state how the land was founded/acquired, neither did they lead evidence surrounding the founding of the land. A summary of the traditional history as pleaded is as follows: The land in dispute was founded by Echem. Echem had only one son named Ottah, while Ottah had two sons named Ogo and Nwantu. After the death of Ottah, the land was partitioned between his two sons. The portion apportioned to Ogo came to be known as Egbelu Umuogo, while the portion apportioned to Nwantu became known as Egbelu Umunwantu. Ogo begat Njita, Emu, Nwambe, Obasi and Eriem. The appellants are the descendants of Ogo and “Umuogo” in Etche dialect means children of Ogo. The descendants of the five sons of Ogo are now known as Umuogo-Umuechem. The defendants traced their genealogy up to living persons, including some of the appellants on record. For instance, they stated that Obasi, son of Ogo begat Nwongha who begat Amadi, who begat Nelson, the 1st appellant. They also stated that Ottah, son of Ogo begat Emu, who begat Ogbede, who begat Egbulefu, who begat Maxwell the 2nd appellant.