A High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja on Friday ordered the Nigeria Police Force to charge Gloria Okolie to court on or before August 31, 2021, or be granted bail in the sum of N2m and Level 12 officer as bond and surety.
The court ruling is coming after over 70 days since the Intelligence Response Team arrested and detained Okolie for an alleged link to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra’s Eastern Security Network.
Human rights activist and Director-General, Behind Bars Initiative, Harrison Gwamnishu, confirmed the development to The PUNCH on Friday.
Gwamnishu and other activists had dragged the police to court to respect the fundamental rights to freedom of the 22-year-old detainee.
The PUNCH had reported how the young lady was reportedly detained at the IRT office in Owerri, Imo State before she was transferred to Abuja.
Gloria’s uncle, Christian Okolie, had said the policemen extorted N280,000 in bribes so far and demanded an additional N100,000 to free the young lady.
Her family had also alleged that she was used as a maid and sex slave by the officers while in custody.
But the Police in a statement had said, “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 National Human Rights Commission and many human rights groups had faulted the continued detention of Okolie by the Police and had demanded that the detainee should be released immediately or be charged to court to avail her of her right to fair hearing.
