Is 22-year-old Gloria Okolie a “militants’ spy” as alleged by the police?
Did her arrest and detention for 70 days follow due process?
Was her family notified about her arrest and alleged offence as provided for by the Police Act, 2020?
Was she given access to a lawyer throughout her detention? Did the police turn her to a slave as alleged? Was a court order obtained for her continued detention above the time stipulated by law?
The above questions are begging answers as controversies continue to trail the circumstances surrounding the arrest and 70-day detention of the young woman.
Until last week, the whereabouts of Gloria was unknown. Her family had searched for the young woman everywhere in Owerri, including hospitals and mortuaries without success until a man, Izuchukwu Okeke, who was detained for six weeks at the Tiger Base of the Police in Owerri, sought out Gloria’s family and told them what had become her fate by June ending.
Okeke, it was alleged, told the Okolies that their daughter had been in police custody since June 17, following her arrest by operatives of the IRT and was made to cook, do laundry and chores like a slave.
The family was said to have visited the detention facility several times without access to their daughter or information on her alleged offence.
It was alleged that some operatives took advantage of their desperation and extorted them.
According to the Director General (DG) Behind Bars Family, Harrison Gwamnishu, it took the investigation of his team to unravel that Gloria had been transferred to Abuja from Owerri on allegation that she was a member of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB)/Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Interestingly, Okeke, who informed the young woman’s family after his release from police custody, was alleged to have been lured back by the operatives to collect his phone they seized only for him to be re-arrested.
As condemnation continued to trail the issue with heightened calls for her immediate release through the #FreeGloria campaign, the police on Sunday afternoon issued a statement alleging that Gloria was detained for being a spy to IPOB/ESN.
The statement which was signed by Deputy Force Public Relations Officer (DFPRO), CSP Aremu Adeniran, was silent on the date of arrest and whether the suspect who has spent 70 days in custody was held in accordance with the law.
According to the statement, Gloria was arrested 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 police claimed their investigation revealed Gloria, a Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) enrollee, was an IPOB/ESN member in Imo State who worked closely with an ESN Commander earlier declared wanted 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, Benjamin Uzoma Emojiri a.k.a “Onye Army”.
But this twist by the police did not go down well with human rights activists who believe that the service was on a desperate face-saving mission.
In his reaction to the statement, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said it sounded like an afterthought and a desperate but feeble attempt at damage control, warning that the statement would do more damage to the already battered image of the police.
Nwanguma said that Gloria’s detention was unlawful because the police held her in secret detention for several weeks without contacting her parents to let them know her whereabouts and the reason for detaining her, neither was she given access to legal representation as required by the Police Act 2020.
“The police did not charge her to court but held her far beyond the legally permissible duration for lawful detention
“It was not until someone released from the IRT custody revealed to Gloria’s parents that Gloria was in IRT custody and public attention drawn to her unlawful detention and enslavement did the police now resort to the face saving stratagem of issuing a Press Releases purporting that Gloria is a ‘Militant’s Spy Girl’ a likely attempt to incriminate her and justify their Illegal and unconstitutional actions.
“Assuming without conceding that Gloria is what the Police now claim she is, why did they not contact her parents upon her arrest? Why did they not facilitate for her access to legal representation which she is legally entitled to? Why was she not charged to court and evidence tendered to prosecute her?
“Why did the police re-arrest the young man who revealed to Gloria’s parents that she was in IRT custody? Where is the young man? Why were the Police intent on keeping the young girls detention secret?
“70 days after she’s been held in custody, police claims that “investigation is being concluded to enable the police arraign her in court for prosecution”. This is sheer afterthought and an attempt to cover dirty tracks and deceive Nigerians.
“The police should not destroy the life and future of the young girl just to save face…” he stated.
(The Nation)
