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Anxiety is mounting among neighbours and relations of an ailing 75-year-old woman, Elizabeth Otubambo, held in prison custody since last month.
Otubambo has been incarcerated at Ibara Prisons in Abeokuta over an alleged offence committed by her son.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt in Abeokuta on Friday that Otumbabo has been held since Feb.15 for her inability to produce Destiny Otubambo, her only child, alleged to have jumped bail after his mother stood surety for him.
The septuagenarian, residing at Iyana Isashi community in Ojo, near Lagos, is said to be in deteriorating health, a condition that has reportedly taken a turn for the worse since her incarceration.
One of Otubambo’s neighbours, Mrs Bidemi Erinle, appealed to the Ogun Government to intervene in the matter, to ensure that the old woman, a widow did not die in prison.
“Holding a 75-year-old woman in prison custody for an offence committed by her son questions the humanity of the people who ordered her incarceration,’’ Erinle said.
She pleaded that Otubambo should be released immediately while the police searched for her son to answer questions for his offence.
Speaking on the development, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Police Command, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, told NAN that Elizabeth was being held on the orders of an Ogun State Magistrates’ Court.
He said that her son was arrested by the police, following complaints by the owner of Soultrag Hotel, Petetdo, Agbara in Ogun over unpaid hotel bills.
The police spokesman said that Destiny had lodged in the hotel with his three other friends for about a month, incurring a bill of about one million naira.
Oyeyemi disclosed that Destiny, who was held in prison custody after his arraignment was later granted bail after his aged mother stood surety for him.
He said that the court had ordered that the old woman should be held in prison custody until her son showed up to answer to the charges brought against him. (NAN)
