Sampson Erugo

Distribution of Intestate Property in an Igbo Community of Nigeria: the Ngwa People of the South East Sampson Erugo

This book documents the distinct customary law of distribution of intestate property among the Ngwa people, an Igbo subethnic community of South East Nigeria. It situates this law within the people's culture to disprove the assumption of uniformity in the pattern of distribution of property in Igbo land. Thus, it illustrates the flexibility of customary practices and the variable patterns existing among culturally distinct groups having diverse historical and cultural origins. It explains apparent complexities. The work reviews the Nigerian patterns and rules of intestate distribution which are compared with the practices gathered in the subject community to produce the present law. The book is a documentation of a socio- legal research into customary practices in a Nigerian community, presented in a legal context that is authoritative and learned, giving a later user a precise material on the subject. This context will be very useful to students and scholars, researchers, legal practitioners and others interested in African law. The research model will be of tremendous help to future researchers on this and other African communities.