Chief Adu Bankole & Anor. V. Prince James Adeyeye & Anor. (2010)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

CHIDI NWAOMA UWA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The Respondents as plaintiffs instituted this action at the Customary Court, Igbara-Odo Ekiti seeking declaratory and injunctive reliefs against the Appellants as defendants.

The claim before the said trial court is on page 4 of the printed records, later amended, pages 11 – 12 of the records, in which the following reliefs were sought against the Appellants:-

1. A declaration that the Plaintiffs are entitled to the Certificate of Customary right of occupancy in respect of a piece or parcel of land situate at Agbaje bush, Ilawe-Ekiti.
2. N2,000.00 being general damages for trespass committed by the Defendants jointly and severally on the said land sometime during the month of April, 1999 and up till now.
3. The defendants to render an account of the palm produce on the said land harvested by the Defendants from the month of April, 1999 till this case is disposed of.
4. A perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants, their servants and agents from further trespassing on the said piece or parcel of land for the purpose of harvesting farm produce and felling economic trees.”

The case of the Respondents (as plaintiffs) was that the farmland in dispute belonged to their ancestor, Oniwe. That the first Appellants’ (defendants) family was given permission to farm on the land on condition that no economic tree should be felled or palm produce harvested on the farm land. According to the respondents, the first Appellants, family had been farming on the farmland for more than forty (40) years without any hindrance from the Respondents’ family until 1999 when the first appellants’ family allegedly harvested palm produce and felled economic trees on the farmland. This gave rise to this action by the respondents’ family.

On the part of the Appellants, the 2nd Appellant was on the land as a labourer employed by the 1st Appellant to work on the land. The 1st Appellant claimed that the farmland in dispute belonged to his family and that the members of his family have been farming on the farmland for a long time.

One of the witnesses, DW2 – Mathew Ale from Enurin family and father of Oniwe the ancestor of the respondents testified that the land in dispute belonged to the first Appellant’s family, the land having been given out rightly to the Enurin family. Further, that when the matter was looked into in the palace, he was asked to visit the land in dispute with the parties and to investigate the respondents’ allegation against the appellants’ family, the allegation of trespass was found to be baseless. This evidence was said to have been unchallenged by the respondents, Pages 24-25 of the printed records, and that the trial court’s visit to the locus-in-quo confirmed the evidence of the appellants’ witnesses that the members of the first appellant’s family had cocoa plantation on the farmland.

At the close of the case of the parties, in a reserved judgment of the customary court delivered on 20th October, 2000, the court held at pages 53 – 54, lines 1990 – 2022 thus:-

“From the totality of the evidence adduced in this case, this honourable court is with the opinion that the Defendant has not brought a stronger report with his witnesses.

In the light of foregoing, the plaintiffs has (sic) established with evidence every essential issues and has also brought forward the stronger evidence in support of his claim against the defendant for judgment to be given in their favour.

COURT ORDER:- The defendants are liable to the claim of the plaintiffs.

Therefore:- 1. The plaintiffs are entitled to Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy in respect of a piece or parcel of land which situates at Agbaje bush, Ilawe Ekiti.

2. Two thousand Naira general damages for trespass committed by the defendant jointly and severally on the said Agbaje bush, Ilawe Ekiti sometimes within the months of April, 1999 and until now is hereby awarded against the defendant to the plaintiff.
3. The defendant to render an account of palm produce harvested on the said land by the defendant from the month of April, 1999 till date.

4 A perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and servants and agents from further trespass on the said piece or parcel of land for the purpose of harvesting palm produce and felling of economic trees as asked for by the plaintiffs is hereby granted.

The defendant is to pay a sum of five hundred Naira to the Plaintiff as costs.”

The Customary court in its judgment granted all the reliefs sought by the respondents. Aggrieved by the aforesaid decision, the appellants who were defendants appealed to the High Court, Ikere-Ekiti Judicial Division, Ekiti State. The High Court, sitting in its appellate jurisdiction affirmed the decision of the customary court.