By Abdulwahab Abdulah and Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA-President Muhammadu Buhari has received with shock the news about the death of Fred Agbaje on Saturday.

Agbaje who has taken ill for sometimes now was reportedly died in London after battling with an undisclosed ailment.

Fred-Agbaje

Information gathered by our correspondent indicated that the late Agbaje has been absent from public functions over time, except last year when he was shortlisted as one of the provisional lawyers appointed for the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, which eventually was not given to him.

He was for a long period a legal counsel to the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos council.

No official statement has been issued yet in respect of the deceased lawyer.

In a statement by President Buhari’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, he described the deceased an erudite human rights lawyer.

He commiserated with the family, friends and professional colleagues of the departed, further describing him as “an ardent advocate against corruption and canvasser for internal democracy in political parties, who also believed strongly in the sanctity of the ballot box.”

Buhari commended the fearlessness of the late lawyer in calling for the cleansing of bad eggs in the judiciary and standing up for his beliefs as he fought for the rights of the less-privileged in the society.

He also noted that the country has lost a principled man as he enjoins Agbaje’s admirers to keep the flag flying.

The President prayed God Almighty to console the Agbaje family and all those who mourned the deceased legal practitioner.

In a reaction to his death, a leading human rights lawyer, Joseph Otteh, an Executive Secretary of Access to Justice, AJ, described Agbaje as legal icon who contributed a lot to the Nigerian legal profession especially its jurisprudence.

“It is a sad news and honestly I am saddened. Fred Agbaje was an icon and he was such a generous man. He was a pleasure to work with.

He contributed immensely to the Nigerian legal profession and he will be surely missed. He came, fought his battles and I believe he came, fought his battles and won. I pray that his soul rests in peace.”

Also, the 2nd Vice president of the NBA, Monday Ubani said Agbaje’s death is a great loss to the legal profession.

“we have been hearing that he was sick and that he travelled abroad for treatment, but we were shocked today when we heard about his death.

” Fred Agbaje was an erudite lawyer and activist. His death is shocking and painful. He was a foremost Hunan rights lawyer and the legal profession in Nigeria and beyond will definitely miss him. I console with his family, and pray for them,” Ubani said.

Also commenting on Agbaje’s death, a human rights lawyer, Ebun Olu Adegboruwa described the death of Agbaje as a rude shock.

“Fred Agbaje was an astitute and forthright lawyer. I have had cause to work with him in cases even up to the supreme court and I can tell you that he was a very honest and down to earth person.

” He was shortlisted for the Senior Advocate of Nigeria several times but he was never picked.

He told me that he would never lobby anybody or go through the backdoor to get the title.

His death would be felt in the judiciary.

The void his death has caused I believe can never be fulfilled. I believe the NBA would work with his family to give him a befitting burial,”Adegboruwa said.