Gloria Okolie 
Gloria Okolie, 21, was arrested by the police on 17th June for being a friend to a member of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra.
Her parents oblivious of the arrest began looking for their daughter since June 17th all to no avail. Luckily, a man who has just been released by the police told Gloria’s parents that their daughter was not only in IRT detention but has also become their laundry woman.
The story got to Harrison Gwamnishu, a human right activist and the team leader of Behind Bars Initiative and he proceeded with his team to seek Gloria’s release.
On his Facebook page, Gwamnishu made known to the public that the police arrested and accused Gloria Okolie of being a friend to an IPOB man and went further to extort money from Gloria’s parents. The post went viral and social media users reacted massively.
The police haven seen the reactions of people released the statement below:
VIOLENT ATTACKS IN THE SOUTH-EAST: POLICE ARREST MILITANTS’ SPY GIRL
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, working with the Military and other security forces, have arrested one 22-year-old female suspect, Gloria Okolie, for her complicity in the series of deliberate and well-coordinated attacks on security formations, other critical national infrastructure including INEC offices and killing of security operatives in the South-Eastern part of the country. The suspect, a native of Umutanza in Imo State, was arrested following ongoing investigations and implementation of special operation, Operation Restore Peace, to amongst other things, break the information, drugs and arms supply chain to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network in the South-East region.
Police Investigations revealed that Gloria Okolie is a member of IPOB/ESN in Imo State who worked closely with one Benjamin Uzoma Emojiri a.k.a “Onye Army”, one of the ESN commanders earlier declared wanted by the Police for his lead roles in planning, coordinating and executing the attack on the Imo State Police Command Headquarters and Imo State Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service. Her arrest and the revelations from her confession, assisted the Police in the arrest of “Onye Army”, a major breakthrough in the quest to restoring law and order in the South-East region.
Further investigations by the Police team revealed that Gloria Okolie takes advantage of her gender and seemingly innocuous looks as camouflage to carry out espionage against military and police targets on behalf of IPOB/ESN. The suspect also serves as an intermediate person, who receives cash, drugs and weapons on behalf of IPOB/ESN and deliver same to their commanders in their camps. Through her clandestine criminal activities, she actively aided and abetted the multiple acts of murder, arson and malicious damage to both private and public property by the ESN. A lot of the deadly and unfortunate attacks on security personnel and assets, with numerous fatalities, have the imprimaturs of Gloria Okolie, the spy girl of ESN militants. Investigation is being concluded to enable the Police arraign her in court for prosecution.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), fdc, NPM, while commending security operatives for the unrelenting fight against violent crimes in the country, assured citizens of the commitment of the Force to improving public safety and security and upholding law and order in the country.
Behind Bars Initiative equally release their own statement which read as follows:
PRESS RELEASE
BEHIND BARS RIGHTS FOUNDATION STATEMENT ON THE ILLEGAL DETENTION AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OF MISS GLORY OKOLIE BY THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE.
> WE ARE WORRIED FOR HER SAFETY IN THE CONTINUING ILLEGAL DETENTION.
We are worried for her safety in the continuing illegal detention!
The Behind Bars Human Rights Foundation deems it imperative to make this press release to the world in a bid to acquaint everyone with the facts of the dehumanizing and illegal treatment meted on Miss Glory Okolie, a 21 year old indigene of Imo State.
Miss Glory Okolie was arrested by Policemen of the Intelligence Response Team in Imo State on 17th June 2021. She has been held illegally in Police custody till date, more than 70 days after her arrest.
Even more worrisome is the fact that after her illegal arrest, Miss Glory Okolie was not allowed access to her family or a lawyer and this made her family members go into a desperate search for her for many weeks. It was only recently, when a person detained at the same facility as Miss Okolie contacted her family, that they (Okolie family) became aware of her whereabouts. The family was also informed that Glory Okolie had been made to cook for Policemen, wash their clothes, and perform other domestic duties while in detention. The family sort to secure her release on bail but were extorted of various sums of money by some persons suspected to be Policemen.
When Behind Bars Human Rights became aware of this manifest illegal detention, intimidation, and extortion, the organization took steps to notify various hierarchy of the Police, and the Press of the ongoing dehumanizing treatment Miss Glory Okolie has been subjected to for more than 70 days.
In a surprising twist of events the Police recently released a statement on Glory Okolie and stated that she was arrested due to links with IPOB and ESN. This development is extremely worrisome as it shows that the Police is not ready to address the pervasive corruption and decay in its fold.
One wonders therefore, was there any investigation before the arrest of Miss Glory Okolie? If there was an investigation, why has she not been charged to court like others arrested for links to IPOB? Is the mere allegation of the commission of an offence the authority for the Police to detain a young woman for 70 days and deny her access to her family while using her for domestic chores? Is the mere allegation of the commission of a criminal offence the basis of the extortion of money from the family members who desperately wanted to secure the release of their daughter on bail?
The obvious answers to all the aforementioned questions show you why this case is very curious and the poor attitude of the Police to addressing corruption of its members, little wonder the general public is fast losing every iota of confidence in the Police. We are also extremely worried that Miss Glory Okolie may have experienced various forms of sexual abuse and trauma and is thus kept at all costs to prevent her from narrating the full ordeal she was subjected to. We are worried for her safety in the continuing illegal detention!
Flowing from the foregoing, Behind Bars Human Rights Foundation demands as follows:
1. That the Police gives the family and lawyer of Glory Okolie unrestricted access to meet with her and interview her.
2. That the Police gives the family the opportunity to take Glory Okolie for medical examination to ascertain her physical and emotional state of health.
3. That the Police grants Glory Okolie bail, which is a constitutionally guaranteed right, having been detained illegally for more than 70 days.
4. That the Police returns all the money extorted from the family of Glory Okolie.
5. That prompt disciplinary measures be taken up against the Policemen who extorted Glory Okolie’s family, used her as a domestic help, and supervised her illegal detention for more than 70 days. These disciplinary measures should also be made public so everyone can be acquainted with the steps undertaken by the Police.
We are hopeful that the Police will do its institution and image some good by promptly addressing all the issues relating to Miss Glory Okolie dispassionately and professionally. We are however resolute to explore and engage all legal avenues to ensure that the plight and dehumanizing treatment of Miss Glory Okolie ends.
Many social media handlers frowned at the action of Nigerian Police force in this regard. Some demanded to know why the police arrested the girl and detained her since 17th June without the knowledge of her parents.
Others accused the Nigerian Police of being both the jury and executioner.
