A Court of Appeal in Benin, the capital of the State of Edo, has dismissed the appeal filed by the Egbirhe community, against the judgment of the Superior Court of the State that confirmed the resolution of the limit dispute between the community of Okhuoromi and the appellants, made by the Oba of Benin.
It will be remembered that the recurring (Egbirhe) have dragged the respondents (Okhuoromi), both in the area of ​​the local government of the State of Oredo before the Superior Court of State 1, chaired by the then judge Judge of the State of Edo, Judge Esther Edigin, now withdrawn in the claim no: B/361/2019.
The plaintiffs, among others, affirmed that the resolution of the usual arbitration made by the oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II was compromised by the emissaries of the palace sent by the monarch to carry out the limit demarcation for the parts in dispute
Egbirhe prayed to the Court of First Instance to put aside the resolution of the Oba of Benin and declared them to the owners of the dispute area, covering more than 4000 plots of land.
When failing to the matter, the Court of First Instance argued that the resolution of Benin Monarch is located and Egbirhe is not only linked by the resolution, but also prevented instituting any demand in any way on the matters determined by the OBA.
Unsatisfied with the judgment of the Court of First Instance, Egbirhe through his lawyer, EO Eghobamien presented an appeal notice on May 14, 2021, which contained five appeal reasons in the Court of Appeals and prayed to the Court of Recurrent to grant its appeal.
Respondents (Okhuoromi) through his lawyer, Prince Pe Uwadiae, prayed to the court to dismiss the appeal claiming that he lacks merit and affirms the decision of the Court of First Instance.
The Court of Appeal of three moms headed by Judge Bitrus Gyarazama Sanga, in a unanimous decision, said the appeal is without merit.
“The present is dismissed and the sentence pronounced by EA Edigin, CJ; on April 28, 2021 in the lawsuit No. B/361/2019.”
Reacting to the ruling, the elders of the community of Okhuoromi, during a press conference, praised the court to defend justice by affirming the decision of the Court of First Instance.
Speaking in the name of the people, the chief priest (Ohen) of the community, Ovbokhan Kelvin Igbinovia, took the opportunity to dismiss accusations of dishonest relationship between Okhuoromi and some developers who reduced on social networks.
“Our attention has been called attention to a fraudulent claim on social networks in which some land developers affirm that the land they bought us are being returned
“This statement is not true, without foundation, misleading and lacks the truth, since there was never a time when the claimants bought us lands and in Okhuoromi, we do not sell land for two developers or enjoy land grabbing activities,” he said.