Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi

Conceptions and Misconceptions in Suing Persons unknown; Commencing Action Vide Originating Summons in Land Litigation in Nigeria

Omodele, Adeyemi Oyedele*

Abstract

Litigants and legal practitioners did face challenges in instituting suits against unknown trespassers on their land. The development had made suits being filed thrown out of law courts due to incompetence of parties sued. Some counsel did file suits against persons unknown primarily to unravel the name(s) of the actual trespasser(s) upon service of the originating court processes on the property in dispute. A lot of cases were wrongly filed vide originating summons which later turned to be contentious cases that could not be rightly prosecuted vide originating summons. This research discussed the legality of instituting a suit against unknown persons, commencement of suits vides originating summons in Nigeria. The options available for a claimant who might not know the name(s) of person(s) to be sued when his right on his landed property is violated are discussed. The research is divided into segments to wit: introduction which gave brief genesis to the topic, parties in commencement of an action, suitability of suits filed against persons unknown, strategies of instituting suits against squatters in land cases, suitability of contentious cases commenced vide originating summons, conclusion and recommendations. The Lagos State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 is used as the reference rules regarding the topic while decided cases were referred to in the work to shield light to the discuss. Order 57 of the stated rules of court is analysed and evaluated. The theory of identity which dealt with identification of parties and cause of action is adopted for this work.