Human rights activist, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, has written an open letter to Nigeria’s former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, urging her to end the prolonged legal battle against her former domestic staff accused of stealing jewelry in 2019. Adeyanju’s call comes in the wake of the reported death of one of the accused, Sahabi Liman, who allegedly fell gravely ill while in custody at the Bayelsa prison and never recovered.
The activist described Liman’s death as a tragic reminder that justice delayed for too long amounts to justice denied, stressing that the case has dragged on for more than five years without resolution, leaving lives shattered and families broken. In 2019, a total of fifteen domestic staff members of Dame Patience Jonathan were arrested and charged with the alleged theft of valuable jewelry. Since then, they have been locked in a long, unresolved court process. Many of them have reportedly remained in detention, facing repeated adjournments and delays that have effectively kept them in limbo.
Adeyanju pointed out that even if the accused were guilty, the punishment they have endured already exceeds what the law prescribes for such an offense. He wrote that this is no longer about stolen jewelry, but about people who have been locked up and suffering for too long. Even if they had been found guilty, they would not have spent this long behind bars for such an offense. And if they are innocent, then the nation has watched them suffer for nothing. For him, the continuous incarceration of the accused domestic staff is no longer about justice, but about a cycle of punishment without proportion.
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Adeyanju’s letter appealed directly to Patience Jonathan’s maternal instincts, describing her as a “mother figure” in Nigeria whose compassion could restore hope to those whose lives have been wrecked by the protracted case. He therefore urged the former First Lady to take the path of fairness and mercy by discontinuing the case, allowing the remaining accused persons a chance to rebuild their lives. “I therefore appeal to you as a mother figure in our nation to discontinue this case as an act of fairness, to let compassion guide your decision and allow these ex-workers a chance to rebuild their lives,” the activist pleaded.
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His intervention reflects broader concerns in Nigeria about delayed justice, overcrowded prisons, and the human cost of prolonged trials. The Nigerian justice system is often criticized for its sluggish pace. Cases drag on for years, sometimes decades, leaving defendants either languishing in prison or tied down in endless court appearances. The Bayelsa jewelry theft trial is now another glaring example of how delays can ruin lives. Liman’s death in custody raises troubling questions: could it have been avoided if the trial had been resolved quickly? Should a non-violent offense like jewelry theft have led to such prolonged incarceration? And what does this say about Nigeria’s broader justice system where ordinary citizens, unlike the elite, often bear the brunt of systemic inefficiencies?
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