DR. EDOZIEN V. E.A. AMADI

ADEMOLA, C.J.F.:

The appellant was the defendant in a claim for the sum of £100 made against him in the Magistrates Court in Lagos. The basis of the claim was that the appellant by his conduct in removing the personal belongings of his deceased brother Dr. T.N.O. Edozien from the last abode of the deceased at No.4 St. Agnes Street, Yaba, has constituted himself as executor de-son-tort on the ground that he has intermeddled with the deceased’s goods and was therefore liable to pay the debts of the deceased.

Judgment was entered in default against the appellant. Application for a rehearing on merits was refused by the learned Magistrate notwithstanding the reasons given by the appellant why he was unable to be present in Court at the hearing. The judgment was then the subject matter of an appeal in the High Court of Lagos. The appeal failed. This is a second appeal.

The main argument at the hearing of the appeal with which we are concerned is that the evidence before the learned Magistrate…