According to the source, the presiding judge, apparently rattled by sustained media attention and public pressure, has now fixed August 11 and 12, 2025, for the conclusion of the defence stage.
The long-delayed trial of 15 domestic workers accused of stealing jewellery belonging to former Nigerian First Lady, Patience Jonathan, has finally resumed at the Bayelsa State High Court.
According to SaharaReporters, the court sat on Thursday and resumed cross-examination of four defendants, Golden Vivian, Vincent Olabiyi, Tamunosiki Achese, and Emmanuel Aginwa, who all narrated chilling accounts of how they were brutalised by officers attached to the notorious Operation Puff Adder unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Yesterday, the prosecutor cross-examined four persons. They all gave consistent testimony about their torture at the hands of Puff Adder operatives,” a source familiar with the case told SaharaReporters.
“The defendants used the opportunity to narrate how they were suspended, beaten, and forced to sign confessions under duress.”
According to the source, the presiding judge, apparently rattled by sustained media attention and public pressure, has now fixed August 11 and 12, 2025, for the conclusion of the defence stage.
“Despite the August vacation, the judge created room for two dates just to wrap it up quickly,” the source added. “She now knows SaharaReporters and others are watching.”
The latest courtroom activity follows the publication of a detailed report by SaharaReporters earlier this month, which exposed how the trial, which began in 2019, had stalled indefinitely.
The report revealed how court sessions were skipped without explanation and how the defendants, many of whom were allegedly tortured into confessions, have languished in detention at the Okaka Correctional Centre in Yenagoa for over five years without bail.
The 15 accused, Williams Alami, Vincent Olabiyi, Ebuka Cosmos, John Dashe, Tamunokuro Abaku, Sahabi Lima, Emmanuel Aginwa, Erema Deborah, Precious Kingsley, Tamunosiki Achese, Salomi Wareboka, Sunday Reginald, Boma Oba, Vivian Golden, and Emeka Benson, were arrested and charged with stealing jewellery reportedly worth hundreds of millions of naira from Mrs. Jonathan’s residence.
However, multiple sources close to the case claim that the accusations were baseless and the trial was a tool for vendetta.
“There is no evidence. None,” a source told SaharaReporters. “This case has always been about punishing these people for what they knew nothing about. The prosecution has nothing but forced statements and fabricated claims.”
In court, the defendants have consistently detailed how they were abducted, tortured, and denied access to lawyers.
In one session, Golden Vivian testified that she was suspended and whipped after she refused to confess to the theft. Others corroborated her account, naming one “O.C. Chris” and a Chief Security Officer, Colin Otutu, as key figures in the police brutality.
Despite multiple accusations of police abuse and credible evidence of torture, no officer has been charged or investigated.
Neither has Mrs. Jonathan, whose legal team, led by Ige Asemudara and Samuel Chinedu Maduba, has been accused of deliberately stalling the trial through judicial tactics and phantom motions.
“We just pray this judge is not manipulated in the end by the nominal complainant,” one source said.
“All eyes are on her now, especially with how far this has dragged. The only reason this case is even moving again is because the media refused to let it die.”
