CIVIL PROCEDURE — Pleadings — Joinder of Issues — Identity of Land — When Identity Becomes an Issue
Ratio Decidendi
Per Musdapher, JSC, in Gbadamosi v. Dairo & Anor (2007) NLC-123-167-2001(SC) at pp. 9–10; Paras D–A:
"The identity of land in a land dispute will only be in issue if and only if the defendant in his statement of defence makes it one. If he disputes specifically either the area or the location or the features shown in the plaintiff's plan, then the identity of the land becomes an issue to be tried."
Explanation / Scope
Pleadings frame the issues for trial. A general traverse or blanket denial does not put the plaintiff on notice of a specific challenge to the identity of the land. To create a live issue, the defendant must plead with particularity, pointing out discrepancies in area, location, or boundary features. Without such specific joinder, the trial court is entitled to proceed on the basis that identity is conceded. The principle ensures that parties are not taken by surprise and that the court focuses only on genuinely disputed matters.