Gloria Okolie Arrest: NHRC demands unconditional release of alleged IPOB spy girl
National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, yesterday demanded the unconditional release of 21-year-old student, Gloria Okolie, who has been in Police detention since June 17 over alleged connection with the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
Police had in a statement, claimed that she was arrested in connection with attacks on security formations and critical national infrastructure in the South-East, which led to the death of security operatives.
Describing her as a spy, Police, alleged that Miss Okolie was an “intermediate person who receives cash, drugs and weapons on behalf of IPOB/ESN and delivers same to their commanders in their camps.”
However, the NHRC, in a statement yesterday, condemned the continued detention of Miss Okolie beyond the legally allowed period, without charging her to court.
The rights body, through its Executive Secretary, Mr. Tony Ojukwu, decried the practice of illegally detaining citizens by law enforcement agencies beyond the constitutionally stipulated reasonable time, stressing that “such an unwholesome act is a gross violation of human rights and must be accounted for, to serve as a deterrent.”
The commission, while acknowledging the allegation that the Nigerian Police authorities had illegally detained Miss Okolie for over 67 days, maintained that “such unprofessional conduct cannot be tolerated in the 21st Century policing.”
It added that “perpetrators of such heinous crime must be immediately brought to justice”.
Ojukwu said he became more disturbed, “upon learning that the victim, while being detained, was used as a slave girl to the officers and was abused, washing clothes, sent on errands , tortured by some of the officers, hence the need for her release without further delay.”
“The commission is, therefore, using this medium to demand the immediate and unconstitutional release of the detainee or in alternative charge her to a court of competent jurisdiction, so she could enjoy the right to fair hearing and opportunity to defend the allegations against her, if any.’’
Although the chief human rights officer in Nigeria noted that the allegations against Police were yet to be verified, he said: “We will not hesitate to condemn such unprofessional conduct which undoubtedly resulted in further violation of the rights of the lady in question because her rights to freedom of movement and liberty, among several others, had been allegedly violated with impunity by the very personnel charged with the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of citizens.
“On our part as a national institution saddled with the responsibilities of promotion, protection and enforcement of rights of citizens and foreigners resident in Nigeria, we have not missed any available opportunity to educate and train Police personnel and, indeed, other law enforcement agents on human rights issues, the NHRC Act (as amended) as well as other National, Regional and International human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory.”
Besides, the NHRC boss recalled efforts of the commission in assisting the government to reform and reposition the Nigerian Police Force, saying in-depth investigations into cases of human rights violations by the Independent Investigation Panel on allegations of human rights violations by the defunct SARS conducted by the commission and the various states, were testimonies to the determination to bring sanity to the system and banish impunity.
He restated that there was no official state policy in Nigeria that approved the act of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Ojukwu regretted that some adamant law enforcement officers act according to their wicked whims and caprices to engage in dishonorable conduct of debasing and subjecting their fellow human beings to the lowest status that could be equated to treatment of beasts and other lower animals.
He said that such actions by law enforcement officers were inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (ICESCR, and other relevant Bills of Rights to which Nigeria is a party.
The Executive Secretary said the commission would not hesitate to compel the police to do its duties if it didn’t take necessary legal and co.