THE masses of Adamawa State, members of the Bar and Bench, friends, and relatives of the late Justice Batimawus Popo Lawi are still finding it difficult to believe that the man who was popularly called the judge of the poor has taken a final bow, not just out of the court room, but to his Lord’s Chambers.

Some people still attribute his untimely death to what they believe was injustice by the Adamawa State government to have denied him office of the Chief Judge of the State. The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice

Mariam Muktar had directed the state government to confirm the late Justice Lawi as the Chief Judge of the State as the most senior Judge in the state and having acted in that capacity twice but the directive ended up in a waste basket.

However, some of his family members blamed his death on a protracted sickness, which he battled for a long period of time without getting a medical solution.

The late Justice Lawi was born on September 10, 1950, at Guyuk town, the present headquarter of Guyuk Local Council Area of Adamawa State.

He started his formal education at Junior Primary School, Cham, from 1959 to 1961. He later proceeded to a boarding Senior Primary School, Kaltungo where he completed his primary school education between 1962 and 1964. He later gained admission to Government Secondary School, Bauchi, where he had his secondary school education between 1965 and 1969.

The late Lawi worked briefly with the defunct North-Eastern government as Statistical Assistant from 1970 to 1973 before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1974 to study Law. After graduating with LLB (Hons), he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, in October 1977 for the one-year Law School programme. He was called to bar in July 1978.

The late Lawi served as a State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice, Gongola State, between 1979 and 1983. In 1983, he ventured into private legal practice until Gongola State Judiciary appointed him as a Magistrate in 1984. He rose through ranks to become the Assistant Inspector of Area Court while serving as a Chief Magistrate at Jalingo in 1989.

Due to his diligence and hard work, Justice Lawi was in 1991 promoted to the rank of Director Personnel Management in charge of High Court of Justice, Yola, a position he held until his appointment as a High Court Judge in 1993.

He served as the chairman of Local Government Election Petition Tribunal, Bali, in the present Taraba State from 1989 to 1991. He also served as a member of the Governorship and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in 1992 and Governorship and National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in 1999.

Justice Lawi was the first judge in Adamawa State to serve as Acting Chief Judge twice but denied the position of substantive Chief Judge of the state.

He was married to Mrs. Glory Lawi and they were blessed with nine children, four boys and five girls.