The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has described the death of retired Supreme Court jurist and eminent statesman, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa as a huge national loss.
In his reaction, Hon. Ihedioha described Justice Oputa as a legal giant who bestrode the Nigerian jurisprudence as a colossus. He also described the renowned jurist as a judicial activist who used his deep knowledge of the law to ensure social justice and the reformation of the Nigerian society.
Ihedioha recalled that Justice Oputa who was former Chief Judge of old Imo State served in the Supreme Court with distinction where he made landmark judicial pronouncements that earned him the appellations: Socrates of the Supreme Court and Lord Denning of Nigeria.
The Deputy Speaker also made reference to the role Oputa played as the Chairman of the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) otherwise known as Oputa Panel which was set up in 1999 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to ascertain the causes of gross abuses of human rights in Nigeria from 1960 to 1999.
According to the Deputy Speaker, the late jurist discharged the assignment with uncommon brilliance and competence which won him national and international accolades.
He noted that Justice Oputa was a deep thinker and philosopher who left indelible footprints in the sands of time, adding that with his death a big vacuum has been created in the judicial system of Nigeria.
Ihedioha commiserated with the Oputa family of Oguta, the people of Imo State and Nigeria for the sad loss and prayed God to grant his soul eternal repose.
Emeka Nwosu
Special Adviser (Research & Documentation)