This case deals with
customary tenancy. The nature and incidents of customary tenancy are
particularly peculiar to customary law. Customary tenancy arises where a village
or community allows an individual or group to settle and occupy communal land
subject to certain terms and conditions.
A customary tenancy is
akin to a lease at common law except that a lease is made for a term certain
while a customary tenancy has no determinable term. In fact, a customary tenant
has a perpetual tenure unless the tenancy is forfeited. However, no matter how
long the customary tenant occupies the land, he does not and cannot acquire
ownership. Payment of tribute to the customary overlord is also an important
incident of customary tenancy.
Facts
The case arose between two communities over a
piece of land that was compulsorily acquired by Shell-BP in the course of
exploration for oil. The
plaintiff/respondents are the owners of the land in dispute through their
predecessors from time immemorial.