Justice Chukwudifu Oputa dies at 96

Late  Justice Chukwudifu Oputa

Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, a former justice of Nigeria’s Supreme Court  has died at the ripe age of 96. He died today at around 3;30pm at his home in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Justice Oputa had been ill for several months before giving up the ghost today.  He retired from the Supreme Court in 1989.

Widely respected by other judges and lawyers for his self-discipline, extraordinary work ethic, and the rigor of his judicial opinions, Justice Oputa was endearingly called the Socrates of the Supreme Court.

He had his early education in Oguta and Christ the King College, Onitsha before briefly attending Yaba Higher College. He transferred to Achimota College in Ghana, earning a BSc in economics in 1945. Returning to Nigeria, he taught at a secondary school and also served as an assistant district officer. 

After earning BA in history at home, he relocated to London where he studied law and got called to the Bar in Gray’s Inn

Once back in Nigeria, he set up a thriving legal practice. He accepted a judgeship in 1966, becoming a Judge of the High Court of the then Eastern Nigeria. He rose steadily, finally earning elevation to a seat as a justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court. 

After his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1989, Justice Oputa maintained a public profile. He headed a panel instituted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to investigate human rights abuses in Nigeria from 1979 to 1999. The panel, known as the Oputa Panel, featured many high-profile revelations of assassinations, tortures and other human rights abuses, but the panel’s report was cast aside by the Obasanjo presidency.

He is survived by a wife, Mrs. C. Oputa, and several children and grandchildren, among them his son, Charles Oputa, an eccentric entertainer.

Source: Saharareporters