Port Harcourt Magistrate Court in Confusion as Records Show Appearance of Deceased Lawyer
There was commotion at a Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, following revelations that a lawyer who reportedly died in December 2025 was recorded as having appeared in court to conduct his client’s matter in February 2026.
The counsel, whose identity was not immediately confirmed, was said to have been killed by unknown assailants in Oyigbo and buried shortly thereafter. Police investigations into the incident are still ongoing.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, the litigant informed the court that his lawyer had died months earlier and that efforts were underway to secure new representation. This disclosure shocked Senior Magistrate Kingsley Briggs, who recalled that the same lawyer had appeared before him on 10 February 2026, pleading on behalf of his absent client who was reportedly ill.
The magistrate confirmed the lawyer’s presence in the court’s record book and noted that, based on his intervention, a bench warrant against the litigant had been withheld, and the matter adjourned to 12 March 2026.
To clarify the situation, the Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, who was in court, advised that a call be placed to the lawyer’s family. A relative confirmed the death, stating that the lawyer was strangled in his apartment in December 2025.
The confirmation triggered confusion in the courtroom, with several lawyers and litigants leaving abruptly.
