A bizarre and deeply unsettling incident threw a Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, into pandemonium on Wednesday when the court discovered that a lawyer who reportedly died and was buried in December 2025 had been recorded as appearing before the court and actively conducting a matter on February 10, 2026 — more than two months after his alleged death.
The shocking revelation left the presiding magistrate visibly confused, sent lawyers and litigants scampering out of the courtroom in fear, and has since gone viral on social media, raising disturbing questions about court record-keeping, possible impersonation, and the circumstances surrounding the lawyer’s death.
The revelation immediately threw the court into confusion. Magistrate Briggs, visibly startled, recalled that the same lawyer had appeared before him during the last adjourned sitting on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, and had actively participated in proceedings on behalf of his client.
To confirm his recollection, the magistrate searched through his record book and verified that the lawyer’s name and presence were indeed recorded in the court’s proceedings for February 10, 2026.
Magistrate Briggs proceeded to narrate the details of the February sitting to those present in court. According to the magistrate, the litigant had been absent from court on that date, and the court had been prepared to issue a bench warrant for his arrest.
However, the lawyer now confirmed to have been dead and buried at the time intervened on behalf of his client, pleading that the litigant was sick and required medical attention. Based on the lawyer’s plea, the court accepted the explanation, declined to issue the bench warrant, and instead adjourned the matter to March 12, 2026.
The magistrate’s account meant that someone identifying as the deceased lawyer had physically appeared in court, addressed the magistrate, made legal submissions on behalf of a client, and successfully influenced the court’s decision all while the real lawyer had allegedly been dead for approximately two months.
In an effort to resolve the confusion, the Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch, who was present in court at the time, suggested that a call be placed to the lawyer’s family to verify the claims.
When the call was made, a member of the lawyer’s family confirmed that the lawyer had indeed died in December 2025. The family member provided even more disturbing details, revealing that the lawyer was allegedly strangled to death in his apartment in Oyigbo, a town in Rivers State, and that the police are still investigating the circumstances of his death.
The confirmation of the lawyer’s death and the chilling realization that someone — or something — had appeared in his place two months after his burial sparked widespread panic in the courtroom. Many litigants and lawyers who were present for other matters reportedly fled the courtroom in fear and confusion.
As of the time of filing this report, the lawyer’s name had not been publicly disclosed, and the exact nature of the matter he was handling before the court remains unclear.
No official explanation has been provided for how a person recorded as appearing in court on February 10, 2026, could have been dead since December 2025. Several possibilities have been raised publicly, including impersonation by an unknown individual, a clerical error in court records, or a case of mistaken identity. However, Magistrate Briggs’s detailed recollection of the lawyer’s active participation, including making legal submissions and pleading on behalf of his client, appears to rule out a simple clerical mistake.
The police investigation into the lawyer’s alleged murder by strangulation in Oyigbo is still ongoing, and no arrests have been reported in connection with his death.
The Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt Branch, has not issued an official statement on the incident, although the branch’s Vice Chairman played a key role in verifying the lawyer’s death during the court proceedings.
The matter has been adjourned to a later date, with the litigant expected to engage a new lawyer.
The incident has raised serious concerns about identity verification in Nigerian courts, the security of court proceedings, and the vulnerability of the justice system to possible manipulation by individuals who may impersonate legal practitioners.
