JUMMAI HANNATU SANKEY, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): This Appeal is against the Judgment of the Borno State High Court of Justice in Suit No. BOHC/MG/CV/41/17 delivered on 4th April, 2019 by Haruna Y. Mshelia, J.
The facts leading to the Appeal are quite straightforward. The Appellant and the Respondents are siblings from the same parents who are deceased. The father of the parties died sometime in 2003, while their mother, Yelwa Chiroma, passed away in 2006. Upon the demise of the mother, a conflict ensued between the orphaned children over the estate left behind by the mother, which estate comprised of landed properties and personal effects. When the dispute defied amicable solution, the Respondents herein, all women, approached the lower Court vide a Writ of Summons filed on 15th February 2017, wherein they claimed against their brother, the Appellant herein, as follows:
a) “Distribution of the Estate of late Yelwa Chiroma under Marghi Native Law and Custom of Lassa Commu…