MAGAJI
V.
MATARI

(2000) JELR 44165 (SC)

Supreme Court · SC.136/1994 · 12 May 2000 · Nigeria
·

Other Citations

Magaji v. Matari (2000) 8 NWLR (Pt.670)722

CORAM

ADOLPHUS GODWIN KARIBI-WHYTE Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria ABUBAKAR BASHIR WALI Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria UTHMAN MOHAMMED Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria ALOYSIUS IYORGYER KATSINA-ALU Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria AKINTOLA OLUFEMI EJIWUNMI Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria

Ratio Decidendi

Core Terms ^Beta

appeal

sharia court of appeal

case

court of appeal

dispute

jurisdiction

court

question of islamic personal law

section

jurisdiction of the sharia court of appeal

family relationship

farm land

issues

sharia court of appeal bauchi

defendant alhaji usman magaji

upper area court bauchi

decision of nabardo area court

leading judgment

nabardo area court

paragraphs c-f

plaintiff's claim

provisions of order

subject matter

upper area court toro

a. b. wali

a. g. karibi-whyte

ambit of section

case no. cva

civil procedure

company of the parties

constitutional amendment

court hold

decision of uac bauchi

following complaint

futile attempts

inapplicability of islamic law principle of hauzi

islamic law principle of hauzi

judgment of nabardo area court

judgment of toro upper area court

late father

learned trial judge

order of the upper area court toro

plaintiff maidorowa matari

proof of their respective claims

respective parties

sharia

single person

subject matter of this case

toro upper area court

A. B. WALI, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): Following the order for a retrial made by the Sharia Court of Appeal Bauchi in 1986, the plaintiff Maidorowa Matari lodged the following complaint in the Nabardo Area Court against the defendant Alhaji Usman Magaji -

"I sued (sic) the defendant about the farm land I inherited from my late father (called Zaranda), which the defendant took to use with the assertion that it is his own. And this is land that has been cultivated long ago by my parents, then how could the defendant a stranger as he is could claim its ownership just of a sudden?"

The defendant Alhaji Usman Magaji denied the plaintiff's claim with the assertion that he inherited the farmland in dispute from his father, Magaji.

The learned trial Judge after hearing evidence called by the plaintiff and the defendant in proof of their respective claims, visited the farmland in dispute in company of the parties and their witnesses and decided as follows:-

"In my opinion since the…

MAGAJI V. MATARI

MAGAJI
V.
MATARI