Africa-Press – Nigeria. Activist lawyer Deji Adeyanju on Tuesday, wrote an open letter to Mrs Patience Jonathan, wife of the former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, over the alleged death of one of her former domestic staff.
Deji in the letter posted on his official Facebook page said the deceased was one of Patience’s fifteen domestic staff standing trial over allegations of missing jewellery.
According to the lawyer, the deceased, Sahabi Liman and the fourteen others were arrested in 2019 and were kept in custody since then.
He lamented that the suspects have been dragged through the courts without resolution.
The letter reads, “For more than five years now, fifteen of your former domestic staff have been standing trial over allegations of missing jewellery.
“They were arrested in 2019, kept in custody, and have since been dragged through the courts without resolution. Along the way, one of them, Sahabi Liman, fell seriously ill in prison and has now died.
“That death is a reminder that justice delayed so severely becomes no justice at all. It should also make us look again at the entire case and the toll it has taken on all involved.
“This is no longer about the stolen jewellery, 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 we have all watched them suffer for nothing. Punishment must have proportion, and what is happening here is far beyond proportion.
“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”.
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