One of the 15 domestic workers of former Nigerian First Lady, Patience Jonathan, who has been standing trial for over five years on allegations of stealing expensive jewellery, has died after a prolonged illness.
The deceased, identified as Sahabi Liman, had been on bail for three years after his health deteriorated while in custody at the Okaka Correctional Centre, Yenagoa.
A prison officer confirmed his death to Sahara Reporters on Monday, saying, “One of Patience Jonathan’s workers, Sahabi Liman, who was on bail, has passed away. It was the sickness he had been battling with before he was granted bail.”
Liman’s son narrated how his father’s condition worsened before he succumbed at a hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He said, “My father was granted bail about three years ago to treat himself, and at some point, he was recovering, but he was taken back to the hospital a few weeks back. It was at the hospital that he died.
“I was with him on Friday night and left around 9pm, but we got a call around midnight that he had died. He was around 45 years old before his death and already buried according to Islamic rites in Port Harcourt.”
A source close to the family, who spoke with the publication, linked his death to the hardship endured during detention.
The source stated, “The sickness that led to his death developed while he was in prison… His health began to deteriorate in prison. At first, they did not grant him bail, but when it became obvious he would not survive, Madam asked the prison officers to release him to his family.”
Liman’s death comes just days before the Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa is set to deliver a crucial ruling on September 24, 2025, that could decide the fate of the remaining 14 workers.
The domestic staff, arrested in 2019, were accused of stealing Mrs Jonathan’s jewellery, reportedly worth hundreds of millions of naira. They have consistently denied the allegations, alleging that police operatives forced confessions from them through brutal torture.
During earlier hearings, defendants, including Golden Vivian and Tamunosiki Achese, testified that they were suspended and flogged until they collapsed. They also accused a police officer identified as O.C. Chris and Mrs Jonathan’s Chief Security Officer, Colin Otutu, of being directly involved in the torture.
The judge is expected to rule on the admissibility of the disputed confessional statements after a “trial within a trial.” Defence lawyers insist the documents were extracted under duress and should not be admitted.
Mrs Jonathan’s legal team, led by Ige Asemudara and Samuel Chinedu Maduba, has faced criticism for allegedly deploying delay tactics and frivolous motions to prolong the proceedings.
The case, now in its sixth year, has been marred by adjournments, leaving the remaining defendants in prolonged detention at Okaka Correctional Centre, awaiting a ruling that could either strengthen the prosecution’s case or collapse it entirely.