From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
A group, Bayelsa Renaissance, has faulted what it called an ongoing smear campaign against former Nigerian First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, over the arrest and trial of those involved in the 2019 burglary of her home in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The group declared as “false and wicked” the alleged claims of undue interference and deliberate incarceration of the accused in prison custody leveled against Mrs Jonathan.
The convener of the group, Comrade Charles Omorodion, said an investigation carried out by the group, indicated that the accused were duly charged by the Bayelsa Police Command for armed robbery and attempted assassination of Mrs Jonathan.
He noted that records of the case presented before the Bayelsa State High Court showed that the accused persons broke into the house of Mrs Jonathan to steal exotic jewellery and valuables.
The group also denied claims that Mrs Jonathan had mounted pressure on the Bayelsa chief judge and the Controller of the medium correctional centre to elongate the incarceration of the accused.
A close source to the Jonathan’s family corroborated the group’s claims, adding that the smear campaign was a deliberate attempt by the sponsors to force Mrs Jonathan to abandon the case brought against the accused in court.
“The police were contacted and the investigation indicted them. Even the Chief Security Officer to Jonathan’s family was interrogated and cleared. Are the sponsors of the smear campaign in the media being used to stampede the former first lady or the police to abandon the case based on sentiments?”
“These accused were the ones fingering each other on their level of complicity in the crime. The PA was initially let off the hook but was later arrested and brought back from Port Harcourt as an integral part of the crime.
‘’The accused and their lawyers should facilitate the case by presenting their defence rather than allowing some persons to stampede the judiciary.”
The source revealed that the families of the accused had come before the former First Lady to plead for leniency, and she was emotional about the level of theft on her precious jewellery, which she acquired even before she became wife of the Deputy Governor in Bayelsa.
“She is even more interested in how the case will end so that she can have her peace. Why would she be influencing the prison authorities or the judiciary? “