Facts:

This is an appeal by B.B. Apugo & Sons Ltd as defendant/appellant against the judgment of the Enugu State High Court of Justice, Enugu Judicial Division delivered on the 20th of December 2000. The facts of the case briefly stated are as follows – by a Writ of Summons endorsed on the 5th of July 1988 the plaintiff/respondent – the Orthopeadic Hospitals Management Board and Allied Bank of Nigeria sued the defendant/appellant. At the time of the action both defendants resided at Umuahia and Aba respectively then in Imo State outside the jurisdiction of the Enugu State (then Anambra State) High Court of Justice. The plaintiff/respondent sought leave of the trial court which was granted on 8/7/88, and the defendants were thereafter served with the Writ of Summons and other court processes.