A Lagos-based human
rights lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, is dead. A source close to him said the
vibrant legal mind died of high blood pressure on Wednesday. He was age 49.
Aturu, who was reportedly rushed to the Lagos State
University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja in the early hours of Wednesday, was
confirmed dead by medical personnel later in the day.
The late Aturu obtained a first degree in Law from the
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. Until his death, he was the
Principal of Bamidele Aturu and Company in Lagos.
Commenting on the sad incident, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr.
Festus Keyamo, said he received the news as a shock.
“I just heard it but I am still trying to confirm; I was told
he died of high blood pressure-related ailment. It is sad and I’m still in
shock,” he said.
Another lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje said he was speechless. Another
legal luminary, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), who told one of our correspondents
that he had yet to confirm the death, said he wished it was not true.
Meanwhile, lawyers and rights activists have expressed shock
over the death of the human rights lawyer.
A former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday
Ubani, who sounded too shocked to talk, described Aturu as the best Nigerian,
“whose activism was not targeted at attracting public attention or government’s
appointment.”
Others such as the Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders,
Mr. Debo Adeniran, the National Coordinator, Legal Defence and Assistance
Project, Mr. Chino Obiagwu and the Chairman of the Civil Society Network
Against Corruption, Mr. Lanre Suraj, simply said they were too shocked to
comment on his death in separate text messages to one of our correspondents on
Wednesday.
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