Facts:

The Appellants are the administrators of the estate of Late Adedoyin A. Sonuga. The late Adedoyin A. Sonuga obtained a loan from the Respondents for the pur pose of completing development on his matrimonial home being the said No.8, Ogunfowokan Street, Okota, Lagos. The first Appellant is the late Mr. Sonuga’ s wife. The late Mr. Sonuga entered into a legal mortgage of the property with the Respondents. The said property was developed and the loan repaid. The legal mortgage was subsequently discharged. However, the title documents of the property were never released to late Mr. Sonuga until his death.
The Appellants on obtaining the letters of administration of the estate of the late Mr. Sonuga demanded that the Respondents should release to them the title documents of the said property. The Respondents refused and claimed that the late Mr. Sonuga was a guarantor of a debtor company known as Allied Paints Nigeria Ltd. The Respondents claimed that late Mr. Sonuga had deposited the title documents as security for the contract of guaranty. The Appellants felt ag grieved and fi led an action at the Lagos State High Court on 14/12/2005 via an Originating Summons.
The trial court dismissed the suit against the Appellants and on appeal, it was struck out for want of competence of the grounds of appeal. Aggrieved by the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Appellants appealed to the Supreme Court.