Thomas Anozie V. Cajethan Emerenini & Anor (2016)

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PETER OLABISI IGE, J.C.A. 

This appeal is against the judgment of the Customary Court of Appeal Imo State delivered on 31st day of May 2001 dismissing the appeal of the Appellant to that Court from the Customary Court, Nwaoriebu, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

The Appellant had in 1989 commenced the action at the Customary Court Nwaorieubi, Mbaitoli Local Government against the original Respondent Dominic Emererenini seeking for:
(a) Court Order to compel the Respondent to accept ?IRI IHE ? ISE? or its equivalent of N10.00 as being the Redemption Fee for the said Lands known as ?UZU MBUTUKWU (1 & 2), AKPALA? ?UHU OTUBA? and NWAONYE respectively.
(b) Injunction restraining the Defendant, his servants or and agents from further entry into the said Lands till final disposal of the case.

The said Customary Court gave judgment against the Appellant on 14th day of July, 1997 whereupon he appealed to the Lower Court on six grounds. The appeal was duly heard and judgment was again given against the Appellant on 31st day of May, 2001 culminating into this

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appeal. The Appellant filed his Notice of Appeal containing four Grounds which without their particulars are as follows:
?GROUND 1
The Customary Court of Appeal Owerri erred in Law when it held that the Customary Court Nwaorieubi was properly constituted and therefore competent when it sat and delivered its judgment on 14th July, 1997.
GROUND 2
The Learned Justice of the Customary Court of Appeal Imo State erred in Law when they held that the Plaintiff?s evidence as to the existence of a Customary Pledge was not sufficient to give him judgment on the balance of probabilities.
GROUND 3
The Learned Justice of the Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri erred in Law in holding that the trial Customary Court was right in admitting and relying heavily on Exhibit ?A? as evidence of a Customary arbitration.

GROUND 4
The judgment is against the weight of evidence.?

The Appellant?s Brief of Argument dated 30th day of October, 2002 was filed on 31st day of October, 2002. The Respondent?s Brief of Argument dated 27th day of March, 2003 was filed on 3rd day of April, 2003 and was deemed

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properly filed on 18th day of June, 2003.
This appeal was heard on 12th day of April, 2016.

It must be noted that records show that the Original Respondent to this appeal was reported dead in 2008. It took the Appellant almost seven years before the sons of the Original Respondent (DOMINIC EMERENINI) were brought in to take the place of their father the Original Respondent. The two sons who are now Respondents to this appeal are CAJETHAN EMERENINI and CHUKWUMA EMERENINI. They replaced the Original Respondent by Order of this Court made on 2nd July, 2013.

The Appellant distilled three issues for the determination of the appeal viz:
1. Whether the Customary Court of Appeal Owerri was right in holding that the trial Customary Court had jurisdiction to determine the case even though there was evidence before it that the Customary Court has ceased to be properly constituted long before it delivered judgment.
2. Whether the Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri was right in holding that the Plaintiff/Appellant failed to prove his case on the balance of probabilities.
3. Whether the Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri was right in holding that

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the trial Court was justified in their reliance on Exhibit ?A? and ?B? tendered by the Defendant.