Justice Kate Abiri, former Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, is dead.
She died in the early hours of Thursday, August 3 at the age of 65
Abiri retired in January as Chief Judge of Bayelsa State
Justice Abiri was appointed Chief Judge of Bayelsa State by former governor Timipre Sylva in 2008 after a protracted battle led by the Nigerian Bar Association, Yenagoa which demanded her to be appointed following the recommendation by the NJC and she holds the record as the longest serving Chief Judge in Bayelsa State, occupying the role from 2008 to 2023.
Abiri hails from Aleibiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area.
Chief Registrar at State Judiciary Headquarters, High Court, Amaebi Orukari, in a statement issued on Thursday in Yenagoa, said the former chief judge died on Thursday during a brief illness at the age of 65.
“With a deep sense of loss, the Honourable Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Hon. Justice Matilda Abrakasa Ayemieye, announces the demise of Hon. Justice Kate Abiri, CON, whose sad event occurred on the 3rd of August, 2023.
“The Hon. Justice Kate Abiri passed on after a brief illness at the Glory Land Hospital, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. She was the immediate past Chief Judge of Bayelsa State,” he said.
Mr Orukari said that the state judiciary would miss the late jurist’s pioneering efforts in information technology, infrastructural development, and contribution to the legal community and the state in general.
