CORAM
ADEMOLA CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
BAIRAMIAN JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
COKER JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
AMUSA ALLI OWE
APPELLANTS
J. O. OSHINBAJO
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
LAND LAW-TRESPASS-INJUNCTION
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The appellants brought an action for trespass to land and an injunction against the respondents at the trial court
HELD
The court held that there will be judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant for £40 damages for trespassing on the plaintiff’s land edged green in Exhibit C. There will also be an injunction restraining the defendant, his servants and/or agents from further trespassing on the said land.
ISSUES
Whether the learned trial judge was right to have raised and decided an issue without hearing the parties on the issue
RATIONES DECIDENDI
WHETHER THE COURT CAN RAISE AN ISSUE SUO MOTU
‘It is entirely contrary to the usual practice that the court should after the close of the trial, and in the absence of either party, raise an entirely fresh issue based upon the examination of certain documents tendered for another purpose, and, without summoning the parties again before him, proceed to determine this issue for the purpose of assessing the penalties to be Imposed.’- COKER, J.S.C.
CASES CITED
The United Africa Company Ltd v. The Commissioner of Police (W.A.C.A. 2889 – 2924, July and October 1948, cyclostyled W.A.C.A. Reports, p.72)
Adeshoye v. Shiwoniku, (1952) 14 W.A.C.A. 86
STATUTES REFERRED TO