67 days in detention: Charge Gloria Okolie to court or release her unconditionally or face action – Lawyer tells Police
Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) , Dr. Monday Ubani, has given the Nigerian Police 14 days to charge to court or release unconditionally one Gloria Okolie, detained now for 67 days without arraignment, insisting that her continuing detention is illegal, wicked and appalling.
Ubani said that failure to heed to the demand would result in the commencement of “enforcement of her fundamental right which has been criminally violated.”
Okolie, 22 years old is, according to the Police, being held “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.”
The Police statement, by CSP Aremu Adeniran, Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters Abuja, titled ‘Violent Attacks in the South-East: Police arrest militants’ spy girl,’ which did not state how long Okolie has been in detention, said further that “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.”
However, Dr. Ubani, in his statement, in the 67 days Okolie has been in detail without arraignment, she has “been used as a slave (beast of burden) and terribly abused, tortured by the officers in charge of her detention,” and denied access to lawyers or relations.
Full text of Dr. Ubani’s statement reads:
RELEASE GLORIA OKOLIE UNCODITIONALLY OR CHARGE HER TO COURT IF SHE HAS COMMITTED ANY CRIME.
Our attention has been drawn to the long and illegal detention of one Gloria Okolie by the Nigerian Police Authorities for over 67 days for her friendship with an alleged IPOB member.
It is further alleged that while she is under the police detention in Owerri, she has been used as a slave(beast of burden) and terribly abused, tortured by the officers in charge of her detention. While these allegations are yet to be verified as no lawyer or relation had had access to her, we are of the candid opinion that there are many things wrong with this detention which we consider patently illegal, wicked and appalling.
What makes this matter more shocking is the latest press release of the current Inspector General of Police after over 67 days conceding to the arrest and illegal long detention on the ground that she was providing information, drugs and weapons to the said IPOB members. According to the IGP “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 truth of the matter is that if the IGP thinks that this explanation will justify this long and illegal detention of this young lady, it has further exposed the incompetence and illegality with which the security agencies carry out investigations in Nigeria .
Assuming but not conceding that these “grave allegations” are true, does this by any stretch of imagination empower any security agency any right to detain a citizen for such lenght of time, thereby depriving her the constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of movement, rights of dignity of person and right of fair trial within a reasonable time as provided under 1999 constitution? Nay, her guaranteed rights of presumption of innocence until proven guilty has been destroyed permanently by this lengthy detention without any charge or arraignment.
We have consistently advise our security agencies to discard this primitive and outrightly unscientific mode of investigation of crimes in this modern times to avoid this unnecessary embarrassment they bring to themselves most times they effect arrest of suspected criminals. We have counselled that scientific and modern mode of investigation of crime is the best global standard that is applicable all over the world even in small African countries with lesser economic viability as Nigeria. Our security agencies have become a big embarrassment to us as a nation, especially when we claim to be giant of Africa.
It is absolutely wrong to arrest an individual and start sourcing for evidence for prosecution. It is not only archaic but patently criminal for police officers to indulge in this manner of primitive investigation of crime in this modern time.
We are therefore giving the police authorities 14 days from today to charge Gloria Okolie to court if she has committed any known offence or release her unconditionally. We shall commence the enforcement of her fundamental rights which has been criminally violated if this request is not adhered to as usual by the police authorities. They are deemed adequately advised.
#FreeGloriaOkolieNow.
Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani
Chairman NBA-SPIDEL.
