On Monday, the judiciary announced the deaths of Supreme Court Justice Chima Nweze and Federal High Court Justice Peter Mallong.
According to official statements, both judges died of illness. Nweze died on Saturday, and Mallong died on Sunday.
According to the Supreme Court’s Director of Press and Information, Akande Festus, Justice Nweze did his duties wonderfully while alive, and the bench and the apex court staff will miss him.
“It is with a heart full of grief that we announce the sudden death of our amiable brother and colleague, Honourable Justice Chima Centus Nweze, on Saturday, July 29, 2023, after a brief illness,” it read.
According to the statement by the Supreme Court, the late Justice Nweze hailed from Enugu said. Having been born on September 25, 1958, he died aged 64.
“Hon. Justice Chima Nweze gave a sterling account of himself in the discharge of his official duties at the Supreme Court. He had largely made himself a pliable legal personality that had diligently sunk a pool of enduring legal knowledge and experience in all his judicial pronouncements.
“He had been a formidable ally of his brother Justices, an admirable pillar of support to the staff and management of the Supreme Court; and indeed, a dependable father figure to all. It will be an understatement to say we are all going to miss him dearly,” the apex court said.
He said, “Hon. Justice Peter Hoommuk Mallong, a judge of the Federal High Court, passed away on July 30, 2023, unexpectedly after a brief illness in Abuja. We will miss him more than words can express.”
According to sources, a condolence register was opened for Mallong at the Federal High Court Headquarters in Abuja.
Mourning Nweze, the Nigerian Bar Association, in a statement by its President, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), described him as an astute jurist whose decisions had shaped the nation’s law and jurisprudence.
“The NBA President condoles with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kayode Ariwoola; the entire Nigerian Judiciary, the Government and People of Enugu State, friends and family of Hon. Justice Nweze over the demise of His Lordship and pray that the Almighty God comforts His Lordship’s family and friends,” the statement read partly.