Justices and staff of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal are still reeling with shock over the death of Hon. Justice Raphael Chikwe Agbo who passed away late morning on Tuesday.
Justice Agbo who is the second most senior Justice of the court was Presiding Justice of the Calabar division.
According to a Court of Appeal source, “We were told that when he woke up yesterday morning (Tuesday) he breathing hard. The driver asked if he could take him to the hospital and he said no he does not want to go to the hospital. The driver now said he was going to call his wife and notify her about what is happening but he didn’t want his wife who is in Enugu to know he was sick. He now said ok, let’s go to the hospital.
“When they got to the hospital he even asked the doctor to call his personal doctor that had been treating him to get his medical history. Thereafter, they gave him some prescriptions which he took and went home. He said he was getting better.
“Because he had sitting that day, when the driver came back to see him, he found out that he was still sweating and sweating so the guy decided to take him back to the hospital. This was now late morning. By the time they got to the hospital, before the doctor could do anything he was already gone.
“They said he had an underlying diabetic problem. He was a very great man. This is somebody that was already preparing for his retirement in October. We don’t know what God has in stock for us but his is a life well lived. He left a lot of footprints on the sand of time.
Called to the Bar in 1978, Justice Agbo was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeal in 2005.
Shortly before the conclusion of his tenure, the former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi named the Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse after the jurist who is a son of Enugu state, saying it is an “honour well-deserved.”
Barely a week ago, Hon. Justice Olatokunbo John Bamgbose of the Ogun State Judiciary died. He died on 30 June 2023, at the age of 63 years.
Married to Professor Oluyemisi Bamgbose, SAN, a former Chairperson of the NBA Women Forum and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, University of Ibadan, the late jurist was also the author of Digest of Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
