Viscount Dunedin:-

In May 1927 the Governor of the Colony of Nigeria gave notice that he intended to acquire for public purposes a compound known as Alfa Iwo Court, situated at Epetedo, in Lagos. This he was empowered to do under the Public Lands Acquisition Ordinance. Following upon that, summonses were taken out to determine the persons to whom the compensation money, which was payable on the acquisition by the Government, should be paid. Alfa Iwo Court consists of a set of houses set round an internal court, which forms the access to them. The claimants are, on the one hand, Oshodi, who is the head of the family of Oshodi and who claimed it as paramount chief; and on the other the various occupants of the houses. The general character of the title of natives to lands in Lagos was examined by the Board in the case of Amodu Tijani v. Secretary, S. Nigeria, [1921] 2 AC 399. What was laid down in that case was that the cession of the territory of Lagos by the King of Lagos to the British Crown in 1861 did not affect the character of the private native rights. That case had to do with community lands held under the White Cap Chiefs; but the general principle was held to apply to other