[1][2] The land was occupied by the Oluwa chiefly family of Lagos, under the leadership of Amodu Tijani.
[2] Tijani argued before the Nigerian courts that he was owed compensation for the expropriation, because the land belonged to him personally.
[7] The Privy Council's decision established that land rights at customary law could be enforced by imperial courts.
[3][8] Kent McNeil argues that Tijani follows a presumption that property rights at private law continue in force despite a change in sovereign control over territory.
[9] Ben Silverstein calls Tijani "perhaps the most important of the Privy Council's decisions on native title".