Facts:

The respondent sued the appellant at the High Court of Delta State and obtained an ex parte order of interim injunction on the 15th February 2001 against the appellant in relation to goods discharged from a vessel that arrived Nigeria in 1999. The appellant filed a motion to set aside the order and also filed this appeal at the Court of Appeal Benin against the ex parte order when he could not get the trial court to hear the motion to set aside the ruling. 

The appellant challenged the ex parte order of the lower court as being far reaching and contended that the lower court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the action since the subject matter of the suit is admiralty in nature, which had earlier been determined by the Federal High Court Benin. 

The respondent instituted the action at the State High Court after he had earlier filed a similar suit over the same subject matter and against the same parties at the Federal High Court Benin which was substantially dismissed. Dissatisfied, the respondent appealed to the Court of Appeal, Benin which appeal was abandoned. He subsequently filed this action on appeal at the High Court of Delta State on the belief that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to give the unfavourable decision in the first place and therefore the order that substantially dismissed his action was a nullity