Legal Principles – Nigerian LawCompass

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Proof of Title – Standard of Proof in Declaration of Title Actions

"Required of a plaintiff in an action for declaration of title is at least to establish his claim by preponderance of evidence. It is often enough that he has produced...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Identity of Land – Plaintiff’s Duty to Prove Land in Dispute Corresponds to Grant

"It was the duty of the plaintiff to have shown that the land in dispute (Exhibit F) was the same land allotted or granted to him in Exhibit A. This...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Identity of Land – Effect of Failure to Prove Identity

"The issue of identity of the land in dispute being crucial, it is plain that since the plaintiff had been unable to identify the land he was claiming, he cannot...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Trespass – Possession Ascribed to Party with Better Title

"The law is well settled that when the issue is as to which of two claimants has a better right to the possession or occupation of a piece or parcel...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Land Use Act – Requirement for Valid Grant of Certificate of Occupancy

"For a certificate of occupancy under the Land Use Act, 1978 to be valid, there must not be in existence at the time the certificate was issued, a statutory or...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Land Use Act – Certificate of Occupancy Invalid Where Another Had Better Title

"Where a certificate of occupancy has been granted to one of two claimants who has not proved a better title, it must be deemed to be defective and to have...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Certificate of Occupancy – Not Conclusive Evidence of Title

"A certificate of statutory or customary right of occupancy issued under the Land Use Act, 1978 cannot be said to be conclusive evidence of any right, interest or valid title...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Proof of Title – Onus on Plaintiff to Prove Root of Title Pleaded

"The law is well settled that once a party pleads and traces his root of title in an action involving title to land to a particular person or source, and...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Trespass – Possession as Basis for Claim – Owner with Better Title

"A person in possession of land even as a trespasser can sue another person who thereafter comes upon the land unless that other is the owner or shows some title...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Proof of Title – Rule in Kojo v. Bonsie – Conditions for Application

"For the rule in Kojo v. Bonsie to apply, there must exist side by side, two stories of tradition, one by each party, which are themselves credible or plausible but...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Proof of Title – Failure of Traditional History – Inability to Rely on Acts of Ownership

"Where a plaintiff by his pleading and evidence relies on traditional history for his root of title to land, he fails or succeeds on that history. If the history fails,...

Land Law Important

LAND LAW – Traditional History – Pleading of Devolution – Requirements for Sufficiency

"A party relying on evidence of traditional history must plead his root of title. He must show in his pleading and evidence, who those ancestors of his are and how...