Ipati farmland: Appeal court rules in favour of Loso quarters

The court of Appeal, Akure Judicial Division, has in a unanimous decision upheld a 1956 judgment given by the Customary Divisional Appeal Court sitting in Akoko, declaring that a parcel of land domiciled at Ipati farmland belongs to Loso Quarters, Ogbagi Akoko and not the Egikun quarters that claimed to have been in control of the land from time immemorial.

The case had moved through the various hierarchy of the judiciary, starting from the customary court and moving to the Customary Divisional Appeal Court, then the Ondo State High Court, Ikare Judicial Division before moving to the Court of Appeal, sitting in Akure, which gave the recent judgment.

The Osunla of Egikun Quarters on behalf of himself and the quarters had filed a suit against eight people; Alaba Adebayo, High Chief Alajosi Olaleye Adedipe, Israel Adewunmi, Lawrence Bakare, Abigail Akinyemi, Enoch Adelabu, Aina Aremo and Janet Aremo, on behalf of themselves and the Loso quarters.

He had asked the court to overturn the judgment of the Customary Divisional Appeal Court which had earlier been upheld by the state high court and declare that the parcel of land situated at Ipati Farmland belongs to the Egikun quarters and also declare that members of the Egikun quarters are the persons entitled to customary right of occupancy over all the parcel of land known as Ipati farmland, arguing that the decision of the Customary Divisional Appeal Court cannot be considered as final.

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However, in their defence, members of the Loso quarters asked the court to strike out the application as it amounts to estoppel rem judicatam and is consequently a waste of time, contending that the decision is final if the issues raised cannot be judicially revisited or re-opened by the court.

The Court of Appeal in its judgment delivered by Justice Muhammed A. Danjuma, however, resolved the matter in favour of the Loso quarters. Justice Danjuma held that, “it is clear in the matter at hand that the decision of the customary divisional appeal court, Akoko is a final decision as the rights of the parties herein over the subject matter on appeal by the present respondent had been settled.

“The interim orders made therein as to the need to file sketch map or survey plan as the parties may choose in order to identify the portion of each party’s portion of the land did not add or subtract anything from the finality of the subsisting judgment.

“I do think that the appellant cannot turn summersault and deny the validity of same Exhibit B upon which he had founded his appeal culminating to Exhibit C. if he does, as he is doing now, then that amounts to the admission that his appeal against the judgment was spurious and an abuse of judicial process and only intended to harass the respondent and waste precious time of the court,” the court held.

The judgment which was supported by other judges on the panel; Justices Patricia Ajuma Mahmoud and Oyebisi Folayemi Omoleye, held that it did not see any miscarriage of justice caused to the appellant on the apt invocation of the principle of estoppels res judicatam founded upon the facts of the record of appeal.

“The inequity in the appellant’s claim of recent and only on January 10, 2017, in the face of the ancient decision of 1956 commends the appeal as oppressive. This appeal is struck out for incompetence. I do award a nominal cost of N100, 000 in favour of the respondents against the applicant,” Justice Danjuma ruled.

Earlier the state high court had also held that the subject matter of the suit had already been laid to rest by Akoko Divisional Court of Appeal, adding that, “this court will not allow itself to be used as an instrument in re-litigating or re-opening a decided matter. There must be an end to litigation and this court so hold. Claimant’s claim is hereby dismissed in its entirety, the cost of N10,000 is awarded in favour of the defendants against the claimant.”