Land Dispute: Supreme Court Dismisses Ilesa Family Case Against Olokutuope
The Supreme Court has affirmed the Olokutuope of Okutuope, Chief Adegboye Aluko, as the rightful owner of a parcel of land at Okutuope along Ilesa/Akure Road, Osun State.
The Gidigbi family of Ilesa had approached the apex court to challenge the Court of Appeal, Akure division judgement which also ruled in favour of Chief Aluko over the ownership of the land.
But the apex court in the suit numbered SC/316/2015, which was filed by Mr Oladele Olowe and Mr Issac Olowe for themselves and on behalf of the Gidigbi family, acknowledged Chief Aluko as the rightful owner of the said land.
A five-member panel of the apex court, in the lead judgment delivered on May 23, 2025, by Justice Mohammed Idris affirmed the concurrent judgments of the State High Court and the Court of Appeal on the matter, which upheld the respondents’ ownership of the land.
In the Certified True Copy of the judgement obtained by OSUN DEFENDER on Sunday, the apex court dismissed the appellants’ case for lack of merit and also awarded the sum of N1 million to Chief Aluko against the appellants.
The appellants had through their counsel Olalekan Ojo (SAN), approached the apex court seeking the court to dismissed the Court of Appeal judgement delivered on the 8th of December, 2014 in Appeal No CA/65/2010 which granted the respondent the possession of the land, damage for trespassing and injunction to restrain further trespass on the land.
In the notice of appeal filed on March 04, 2015, and brief of argument filed on 24th February, 2020, the appellants raised five issues for determination by the Supreme Court.
READ ALSO
•Soldier Allegedly Kills Amotekun Officer In Osun
•Court Remands Tiktoker For Claiming President Tinubu Is Dead
Some of the issues raised, according to the CTC, include “Whether the Court of Appeal was right to have affirmed the judgment of the trial court entered in favour of the respondent having regard to the totality of the evidence before the trial court.”
“Whether or not the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were right when they held that the identity of the land in dispute between the appellants and the respondent was not an issue in the case by reason which the respondent had been relieved of the duty of tendering survey plan to establish the identity of the land.”
“Whether the Court of Appeal was right in affirming the judgement of the High Court of Osun State in favour of the respondent as plaintiff when the respondent’s statement of claim adduced by the respondent at the trial court is fundamentally incompetent having been signed by the law firm of Akeredolu and Olujimi instead of a legal practitioner.”
In his judgement which was agreed to by the other four judges – Helen Ogunwumiju, Tijani Abubakar, Haruna Tsammani and Habeeb Adewale, Justice Idris said a Court of Appeal had on June 15, 1993, in Appeal No. CA/I/118/86 granted consequential orders in favour of the respondent with the appellants failing to appeal the decision.
The judge noted that once a prior Judgement conclusively determines the rights of party in respect of land and such judgement remains unchallenged on appeal, it becomes final, binding and cannot be reopened in subsequent litigations.
He said the court will not interfere with the concurrent findings of the lower courts, adding that the appellants have “failed to provide any compelling reason or cogent evidence to justify this court’s interference with the findings of the lower courts”.
On the identity of the land, Justice Idris said the Court of Appeal trial indicated that both parties were fully aware of and familiar with the disputed land, noting that “the appellants have failed to demonstrate before the court that the decision of the lower courts on the issue was erroneous or occasioned a miscarriage of justice”.
On whether the statement of claim adduced by the respondent at the trial court is fundamentally incompetent, Justice Idris said once the name of a person is identifiable as a legal practitioner, the requirements of Section 2(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act are deemed to have been satisfied, dismissing the appellants argument, adding that the statement of claim as filed by the respondent at the trial court was competent.
According to Justice Idris, “The Writ of summons in this suit was signed by Akin Olujimi while the accompanying statement of claim bears the signatures of Akeredolu and Olujimi. Both individuals are not only undisputedly legal practitioners but are also enrolled to practice law within the jurisdiction of Nigeria. In light of this, the signing of the statement of claim cannot be deemed as defective.”
The judge also resolved the other two issues in favour of the respondent who was represented by R.A. Gbadamosi (SAN) and T.R. Ojewunmi.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
