A 90-year-old woman has made an appeal to former First Lady Patience Jonathan, pleading for the release of her daughter, Deborah Erema, who has been in custody for more than five years over allegations of theft involving the ex-First Lady’s jewellery.
In a video published by SaharaTV on Friday, the elderly woman, visibly frail, tearfully expressed her suffering and desperation, saying her daughter was her only source of care and support.
“Nobody go give me food, nah only her dey give me. I don’t have anybody. I just go beg beg. I am now a beggar. See me as I dey now,” she cried.
“Please release my daughter, make she go find food for me. Nah she dey give me food. I don beg tire. I don tire. Make una leave my pikin for me. If I die now, who go bury me? Nah only her I get,” she pleaded.
Erema, a former domestic aide to Mrs Jonathan, was reportedly arrested in 2019 along with 14 others over the alleged theft of items said to belong to the former First Lady.
The missing items, reportedly worth over N200 million, include seven gold bangles, several other pieces of jewellery, five Samsung air conditioners, two sets of upholstered chairs and six Samsung flat-screen televisions.
The defendants were arraigned before the Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa and are facing an 18-count charge that includes conspiracy to commit murder, armed robbery, burglary and theft.
Despite the severity of the accusations, the case has faced over 40 adjournments in court, leading to prolonged detention for the accused.
