[1979]DLHC1039 • October 26, 1979 • High Court
ATOMO vs. TEKPETEY
The plaintiff claimed an account and recovery of properties of the late Atomo Lawor, asserting her status as his daughter and customary beneficiary. The defendant, a paternal nephew, claimed exclusive inheritance rights as caretaker and successor appointed by the family head, denying the plaintiff's filial status based on Osudoku custom relating to 'wayokwe' marriages. The dispute centered on the legitimacy of the plaintiff's claim to inheritance under customary law and the defendant's alleged oral will (samansiw).
read moreJUDGMENT OF APATU-PLANGE J. In this case the plaintiff’s claim against the defendant as indorsed on her writ of summons is for: (a) Account from the defendant as caretaker of the properties of the late Atomo Lawor of Osuwem from the date of his death up to the date of judgment; (b) Recovery of the amount found due for the purpose of being shared between the plaintiff and her sisters, the customary beneficiaries of the late Atomo’s properties; an order upon the defendant to deliver unto the plaintiff and her sisters the properties of the late Atomo Lawor held by him and in his care; and (d) An order of perpetual injunction against the defendant restraining him from further interference with the properties so handed over to the plaintiff and her sisters.” The defendant resisted the claim by contending that the plaintiff cannot in accordance with Osuwem custom be described as a daughter of the late Atomo Lawor and that at the time of the death of late Atomo Lawor...