Eminent jurist and a former Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC), Justice Chukwudifu Oputa is dead. The legal icon was said to have died yesterday afternoon at the National Hospital in Abuja at the age of 96.
Justice Oputa, who would have been 96 in August, according to one of his sons, Geoffrey Oputa, suffered a relapse of the stroke he had in February this year and was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The late Justice Oputa was born on August 22, 1924 in Oguta, Imo State. He had his early education at the Sacred Heart School, Oguta and Christ the King College, Onitsha.
After his secondary education, he attended the then Yaba Higher College. But due to the exigencies of the Second World War, he was sent along with others to the famous Achimota College, Ghana, then Gold Coast, where he graduated with B.Sc (Hons) Economics in 1945.
After this, he came back to Nigeria and took up a teaching appointment with Calabari National College. He later came to Lagos where he worked as an Assistant District Officer (ADO). It was here that Justice Oputa achieved a remarkable feat as he studied at home and obtained his BA (Hons) History.
Justice Oputa then proceeded to London where he bagged his LLB (Hons) and was called to the Bar in Gray’s Inn, London.
Upon his return to Nigeria, Oputa went into private practice, handling such celebrated cases and special inquiries as the Oguta Chieftaincy dispute 1958/ 59, the Amanyanabo Dispute 1956/ 60 and many more.
In 1966, Justice Oputa was appointed Judge of the High Court of the then Eastern Nigeria and moved on to become the first Chief Judge of Imo State 10 years later.
In 1984, he was elevated to the Supreme Court, from where he retired in 1989.
Justice Oputa would be remembered for chairing the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC) otherwise known as the Oputa Panel. The late legal icon, was often referred to as the “Socrates of the Supreme Court” during an era that was regarded as the golden era.
But legal practitioners have been reacting to the passage of the legal icon, saying that he would be remembered for his laudable contributions to the course of law and the judiciary in the country.
He is father of popular Nigerian entertainer Charley Boy.
May He rest in peace.