SULEIMAN GALADIMA, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): This is further appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division delivered on 19/11/2002.
This suit has a chequered history. It has had a tortuous and intriguing journey through 4 courts of various jurisdictions and finally to the Apex Court herein. The background facts tell the whole story. The Appellant herein was the Appellant at the Court below. The Respondent as plaintiff had brought a claim against the Appellant as Defendant on grounds of lack of maintenance since delivery, removal and retention of her personal properties, denial of paternity of the child. Accordingly, she sought to know her relationship with the Appellant.
Following those claims, the trial Area Court No.3 Katsina, Katsina State decided to take the issue bordering on the child's paternity while stepping aside the other claims. The Court summoned the plaintiff's mother and took her evidence. The plaintiff later produced one witness to c…