The remains of the late Justice Sylvanus Nsofor, immediate past Nigerian ambassador to the United States (U.S.), on Wednesday departed for home.
The casket, draped in the Nigerian flag, departed the Dulles International Airport, Washington, aboard a Delta Airlines plane.
At the airport to bid him farewell were officials of the U.S. Department of State and Nigerian embassy officials led by the Charge D’Affaires, Mrs Jane Adams-Abanulo.
A brief departure ceremony for the deceased included a guard of honour mounted by U.S. military service members at the cargo section of the airport, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Nsofor’s wife, Jean, and son, Cross, accompanied the body, which is expected to arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Thursday.
Representatives of the U.S. Consulate in Lagos and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are expected to receive the body.
The 85-year-old retired justice of the Court of Appeal died in a U.S. hospital on December 10 after a brief illness.
Born on March 17, 1935, in Oguta, Imo State, Nsofor graduated from the defunct Holborn College of Law, London, in 1962.
He also bagged an LL.M from the London School of Economics in 1964.
Nsofor assumed office as Nigeria’s ambassador to the U.S. on November 13, 2017, succeeding Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, who died towards the end of his tenure.
At a service of songs held in his honour by the Nigerian Embassy in Washington on Tuesday evening, speakers took turns to praise his discipline, incorruptibility and passion for justice.
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