Justice Chukwudifu Oputa is dead

Mr. Oputa died on Sunday after a protracted illness at the age of 96.

A former Supreme Court Justice, Chukwudifu Oputa, is dead. Mr. Oputa died on Sunday after a protracted illness at the age of 96.

His maverick son, Charles Oputa, popularly called Charley Boy, confirmed the death of the jurist to PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.

Mr. Oputa was born in Oguta, Imo State.

He attended primary school in Oguta before moving to Kings College and later, Yaba College of Technology, all in Lagos.

He also attended Achimota College, Ghana, the London University and Gray’s Inn, London.

Mr. Oputa was called to bar in 1953 but later set up private practice in Port Harcourt in 1954.

He was appointed a judge in 1966 and was promoted Justice of the Supreme Court in 1984, where he served until retirement in 1989.

He chaired the Human Rights Violation Investigations Commission which came to be known as the “Oputa Panel,” during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime.