The Nigerian Correctional Service, NCoS, has denied reports alleging the illegal detention of 15 domestic staff members of former President Goodluck Jonathan at the behest of his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Okaka, Bayelsa State.
It had been reported that the staff had been held for nearly six years without trial over missing jewellery allegedly belonging to the former First Lady, valued at over N750 million. The reports also claimed that Dame Patience Jonathan was recently sighted in a closed-door meeting with senior officials of the correctional command.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, the Public Relations Officer of the NCoS Bayelsa Command, Assistant Superintendent of Corrections G.T. Isari, dismissed the claims as malicious and unfounded. He firmly stated that no such meeting occurred between the former First Lady and any top official of the command.
Isari clarified that the inmates in question were remanded by the order of High Court 1 of Bayelsa State and have been attending their trials as scheduled. He emphasised that no individual can be admitted into any custodial centre in Nigeria without a valid warrant issued by a competent court of jurisdiction.
He further stated: βThey were in court on the 10th and 11th of March 2025, and the last time they appeared was Thursday, 3rd April 2025, when the matter was adjourned to 17th April 2025. These inmates have been treated fairly and humanely while in custody, and their fundamental human rights have been respected.β
