OGBUESHI P.C. IKEMEFUNA & ORS V. OBIORA ILONDIOR & ORS

MOORE ASEIMO ABRAHAM ADUMEIN, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): In the High Court of Delta State, holden at Asaba, the respondents were the plaintiffs while the appellants were the defendants in Suit No. A/31/89. As plaintiffs in the lower Court, the respondents amended their statement of claim several times. In their 4th amended statement of claim, the respondent sought the following reliefs:

(i) A declaration that the purported judgment of the Native Court of Asaba of 31st May, 1905 between Obi Onyia and Agwotiti, Oko-Uno, Okwe and Achalla tendered as Exhibit in Suit No. 6/1931 at the Provincial Court of Asaba was a forgery or, at best, could not have been a valid judgment of a competent Court in Asaba in 1905.

(ii) A Declaration that the judgment of the Provincial Court of Asaba in Suit No. 6/1931 between Obi Nnaokolo of Umuezei and Onwuashi, the Okpella of Okwe, was a judgment obtained by the practice of fraud by the plaintiff therein on the trial Court, and therefore null, …