BELGORE, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The appellants herein were the appellants at Court of Appeal having lost as defendants at Lagos High Court. The respondents as plaintiffs claimed that one Ogunbuwa, a hunter and farmer who hailed from Ile-Ife, after several adventures, finally settled on a vast expanse of land at Idimu, now in Lagos State. He exercised total act of ownership on the said land by farming, hunting and establishing hamlets thereon. He also established shrines for the worship of Ogun, Moremi, Sango, Igbale, and Oro. He also gathered fruits and tapped palm wine on the land. However, he was survived by an only child, a daughter by name, Ogunbunmi. During his life time, Ogunbuwa gave Ogunbunmi to one Aina Olaofe of Ikotun as wife. Aina Olaofe then, with his wife, Ogunbunmi, settled on the land in dispute.
Thereafter, ostensibly on the demise of Ogunbuwa, Olaofe and his wife Ogunbunmi exercised maximum right of ownership over the disputed land at Idimu. The m…