For
Fausat, the end came in a prison for old people far away form home in Brazil.
Reportedly,the trip to Brazil was her first
time outside Nigeria.It was supposed to be a medical trip but she was to
become a drug courier without her knowledge. She died in Brazil, heart
broken and has been buried in Brazil, as it were ,to continue her sentence.
Fausat Balogun died on the 30th of October,
2012 after a mild stroke caused by high blood pressure which she
got worse before arriving at the penitentiary for old people. She died at the
hospital for women inside the penitentiary.
No family member came for her body so she was
buried at the Vila Formosa Municipal Graveyard in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Her case first came to limelight when the
chairman of the House of Reps committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa,
told the Nation that a 72 year old Nigerian woman, identified as Fausat
Abosede was among 457 Nigerians being held in Brazilian prisons over drug
related offenses.
Hon Dabiri-Erewa traveled to Brazil with some
members of her committee on a fact finding mission after the woman’s plight and
that of at least 456 other Nigerians, including 14 women, serving various jail
terms over drug offenses, were brought to her attention by an NGO known as
‘Youths Without Borders’.
The law maker later told Nigerians that the
said the 72 yr old woman was lured to Brazil on the pretense of helping her get
medical attention by another Nigerian lady called Patricia.
When it was time for the old woman to go back home,
Patricia allegedly gave her a parcel to take back to Nigeria which turned out
to contain hard drugs. She was arrested at the airport as she tried to leave
the country.
Because of her age, Fausat was not in prison as
Brazilian law forbids jailing anybody above the age of 70. So shewas held in
confinement awaiting conviction before she would be sent to a
remand home .Hon. Dabiri said legal representation was arranged for Fausat and
other Nigerians in Brazilian jails.She died at a hospital for women inside the
penitentiary in Brazil. she was buried at the Vila Formosa
Municipal Graveyard in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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