April 07, (THEWILL) – There are concerns over the continued detention of 15 domestic staff of former First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, at Okaka Medium Security Custodial Centre in Bayelsa State since 2019.
According to a reports, the domestic workers were brought before the High Court 1 of Bayelsa State on 2019. They were accused of stealing gold bangles and jewellery and other property belonging to the former First Lady, all valued at the sum of N200 million.
The defendants were also charged with 18 counts bordering on conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit felony, armed robbery and burglary, among other offences.
Unfortunately six years after, the case is yet to be concluded in court. The accused are virtually left to languish in detention. The case has been adjourned many times and nobody has bothered to explain why.
Many concerned Nigerians, including the Nigeria Bar Association, have reacted to the matter and called on the parties involved to find a way to resolve it. There have been veiled criticism of the part played by Mrs Jonathan in the matter and insinuations that she might be using her influence to delay the trial of the accused.
But the management of the Okaka Custodial Centre rose quickly to dismiss such insinuations. In a statement, the spokesperson of the Centre, Isari Tombara, refuted the allegation that the defendants had not been appearing in court. “They were in court on March 10 and 11, 2025. The last time they were in court was April 3 where the case was adjourned to April 17,” he said.
A top official of the NBA blamed the delay on different factors, including the unexpected birth of a child by a female defendant and the insistence by defence lawyers on what trial procedure to adopt. “That is what is causing the delay,” he said.
The issue is not really about Mrs Jonathan influencing any Custodial Centre to keep the defendants locked up in the facility; indeed, it is about the way the justice system operates in this country.
This is not the first time that a case has been delayed for this long in this part of the world. Of course, examples abound. This is symptomatic of a judicial system that toters on the brink of collapse.
The defendants in this matter deserve to be heard in court. It is their right. It is unfair and unconstitutional to deny them the right to fair hearing. They were only accused of stealing, not for an offence of great significance to national security, after all.
We call on the relevant authority to expedite action on the matter in court and let the accused go to their homes in peace or dismiss it for want of merit.
