Suara Yusuf Vs Oladepo Oyetunde & Ors (1998)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

UWAIS, C.J.N. 

The respondents were the plaintiffs in the High Court of Oyo State sitting at Ibadan. The appellant, as 2nd defendant, was one of the four defendants to the claim jointly and severally brought by the plaintiffs against them seeking the following:-

“(i) Declaration that the plaintiffs are entitled to statutory right of occupancy to all that piece or parcel of land situate, lying and being at Samologbe Ologede village, Old Lagos Road, Ibadan, shown on plan No. FA11576 dated 25th March, 1983 and verged green.

(ii) Declaration that the purchase agreement dated 2nd January, 1978, in so far as it purports to sell Samologbe family land situate at Samologbe Ologede village, Old Lagos Road, lbadan, to the 2nd defendant is wrong, illegal and accordingly null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

(iii) Declaration that the purported sale of the aforesaid Samologbe family land by Salami Afolabi, Oduola Akanni, 1st defendant and 10th plaintiff, to the 2nd defendant is illegal, null and void, the said sale having been made without the consent and/or authority of the plaintiffs and other principal members of Samologbe family.

(iv) Perpetual injunction restraining all the defendants, their servants, agents and/or privies from further acting pursuant to or implementing or executing or taking any steps or further steps whatsoever to implement or execute the aforesaid purchase agreement.”

Pleadings were duly filed and exchanged between the parties. The plaintiffs filed a statement of claim which they later amended and further amended. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants filed their statement of defence individually with the 2nd defendant amending his. The 4th defendant did not file any pleading.

The facts of the case as found by the learned trial Judge (Yekini Adio, J., as he then was) are briefly as follows. The land in dispute is situate at Samologbe village which was founded by one Akinrinlo Samologbe who begat Abinde. Abinde begat Oduola Akanni Samologbe and Adebayo Abinde Samologbe, who was the 3rd plaintiff in the case. The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th plaintiffs claimed their membership of Samologbe family on the basis of the settlement of their different ancestors at Samologbe village after Akinrinlo Samologbe founded the village.

The land in dispute constituted the area verged green and marked “B” in the plan tendered by the plaintiffs which was admitted as Exhibit “1”. The area claimed by the plaintiffs is edged red in Exhibit “)” and the land in dispute is within it.

Evidence was adduced by the plaintiffs which showed that there were fourteen sections or branches of Samologbe family and that Oduola Akanni and Adebayo Abinde, who were the direct descendants of Akinrinlo Samologbe, belonged to Abinwinde section of the family. Each of the fourteen sections of the family had its own head, but all the sections of the family, put together, did not have an overall head. Adebayo Abinwinde was dead at the time of the proceedings in the High Court.

Sometime between 1976 and 1977, the then Western State Government compulsorily acquired Samologbe family land, which included the land in dispute, and made it available to lbadan Metropolitan Planning Authority. Compensation for the acquisition was paid to the Samologbe family.

Sometime in 1977, some members of Samologbe family contacted the 2nd defendant (now appellant) and sought his assistance on how to secure the release of part of the Samologbe family land which had been acquired. The 2nd defendant offered to assist and did take some action. These members of the family agreed and did sell to 2nd defendant a portion of the land which was to be released. A document to that effect was executed between the parties and that is Exhibit “4” which is a purchase agreement dated the 2nd day of January, 1978.

In 1979, the Samologbe family had petitioned the Western State Government, as per Exhibit “3”, pleading that a portion of the land acquired be released to them. The portion was accordingly released in July, 1981 with the condition that the family would refund to the Western State Government the amount of compensation paid to them on the portion of land being released. The amount came to N57,040.

The land released to the family was meant for all the fourteen sections of Samologbe family and none of the sections claimed that any particular part of the land belonged to it. The principal members of the family were not consulted before or at the time the agreement to sell a portion of the land was entered, and in particular nine out of the fourteen sections of the family.