Police lied, Gloria Okolie is not militants’ spy girl — Rights Activist Okechukwu Nwanguma

. . . The truth about her arrest and detention

The press release issued on August 22, 2021  by the Public Relations Department of the Nigeria Police Force entitled ‘VIOLENT ATTACKS IN THE SOUTH-EAST: POLICE ARREST MILITANTS’ SPY GIRL’ came to me with utter shock and disbelief. It sounded like an afterthought and a desperate but feeble attempt at damage control. It has more potential of doing further damage to the already battered image of the Nigeria Police than the possibility of burnishing it.

First, the young girl referred to in the press release as ‘militants’ spy girl’ is the same 22- year-old Gloria Okolie whose case has been trending on social media for the past 2 days. She was reportedly arrested and kept in secret custody by the notorious Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Tiger Base, Owerri Imo State for the past 70 days and her parents did not know her whereabouts until one Izuchukwu Okeke who was also held in custody by the IRT for about 6 weeks and later released went to inform her parents that she was being detained at the IRT where she was turned to a slave.

It was also revealed that the IRT operatives denied Gloria’s parents access to her when they came to see her and had continued to extort money from them on false promises to release her. They eventually transferred her to the Abuja office of the IRT after several visits by her parents and her lawyer who were denied access.

The police held Gloria in secret detention for several weeks without contacting her parents to let them know her whereabouts and the reason for detaining her, as required by the Police Act 2020. This makes the detention unlawful. The police also did not facilitate for her 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 the 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 rearrest 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.

But why should we believe the police this time?

The same IRT claimed hours after the killing of Gulak that they had neutralised the suspects who killed him. Not a single of the alleged killers was arrested to enable police get useful information from the supposed gang about others who may be involved in the murder. Nothing more has been heard of that tragic murder till date.

The Police especially in Imo State have put themselves in a position where nobody believes anything they say. Even the media no longer trust the statements they issue about arrested persons. Most journalists are now careful about depending on their report as valid account of any incident.

•Okechukwu Nwanguma, a foremost rights activist, is Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC).