Enugu State judiciary on Thursday paid special tribute to late Justice Christopher Chukwuma-Eneh, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court.
Speaking during a valedictory session organised in his honour at the state High Court premises in Enugu, the state Chief Judge, Justice Ngozi Emehelu, described the legal luminary as a role model.
Emehelu said that the deceased distinguished himself in the service to his fatherland, adding that his legacies would continue to speak for him.
“This explains why Nigerian lawyers from all parts of the country have come to pay their last respect to their late collegue,” she said.
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According to the chief judge: ”Chukwuma-Eneh achieved a lot and would be remembered for his accountability and justice.
“He served the bar meritorously and kept no social boundaries.”
“He recorded success that cannot fade away in years to come as the South-East Bars and Nigeria will miss his service and advice.”
Also, the state Attorney-General, Mr Malitus Eze, said that Chukwuma-Eneh’s death was shocking to him.
He described the deceased as “hardworking, industrious, moderator, moral councillor and one who loves success.”
Eze further described the late justice as a philantopist, adding that even at retirement, “he never turned away from his good deads.”
He said that his demise had created a vacuum too hard to be fill.
Mr Anene Ojinta, the Chairman, Nigeria Barristers Association (NBA), Enugu branch, described Chukwuma-Eneh as “a big Iroko that distinguished himself among others.”
“He has run his race and completed his task, whatever that is left behind is for the living and we ought to reflect on this eloquent fellow’s life while at the bar,” Ojinta said.
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Mr J H Okolo (SAN) said that his encounter with the late justice in the bar “showed that he was upright in all he did.”
“Chukwuma-Eneh distinguished himself througout his service to the bar and he showed that he knew the onion of the profession through the way he handled cases and proceedings,” Okolo.
He called on judges and upcoming ones to always reflect on the benefit of giving justice without compromise, saying that the judiciary remained the hope of the common man.
Late Chukwuma-Eneh was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Anambra state in 1989, elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1999 and Supreme Court in Jan. 2007.
He was called to the English bar in 1970 after undergoing training at the University of London and professional legal training in Middle Temple London.
The deceased, who retired in 2014, died on Feb. 27 and would be buried on April 16 in his country home in Amachala Village, Obioma in Udi Local Government Area of the state. (NAN)