Gloria Okolie: Police, HURIWA differ on alleged arrest of militants’ spy girl
The arrest of a 22-year-old female suspect, Gloria Okolie, by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, working with the military and other security agencies, for her alleged complicity in attacks on security formations in the south-east, was yesterday faulted by the Pro-democracy and Not-for-profit body, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).
According to deputy police spokesperson, CSP Aremu Adeniran, Okolie was also involved in the attack on other critical national infrastructure, including INEC offices as well as 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, code named “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.”
Police Investigations, according to CSP Adeniran, revealed that, Gloria Okolie is an alleged 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 Imo State Police Command Headquarters and Imo State Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
“Her arrest and 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.
“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba while commending security operatives for the unrelenting fight against violent crimes in the country, assured citizens of the commitment of the Force to improving public safety and security and upholding law and order in the country,” The statement added.
BUT in a swift reaction, HURIWA condemned the alleged attempt by the police to frame up the 21-year-old, Glory Okolie, as militants’ spy girl..
The group, in a statement, yesterday, accused the office of the Inspector -General of Police (IGP), of attempting to frame up the girl, whose family had been looking for since June but later found out that she was held hostage by officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Imo State.
HURIWA said the issued statement from the Force Headquarters on the same missing but found girl declaring her as a terror suspect arrested almost 78 hours after her case became public information, was despicable, reprehensible and odious.
The group condemned as an afterthought the statement by the police which was signed by one CSP Aremu Adeniran, the deputy Force Relations Officer, saying “this act of unprofessional policing is one amongst the many reasons that the Nigerian police force has over the years self destroyed the public image of the police and has exposed the institution to international opprobrium and disgrace.”
In the statement signed by its National coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National media affairs director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA asked the IGP not to carry through with ‘this shameful plot of vendetta and frame up against an apparently distressed girl whose family haven’t seen for months after she was made to disappear by the police in Imo State.
It said: “ It was disappointing that at a time some people are beginning to think that the police has eventually decided to turn a new leaf and stop spewing toxic lies and half truths and stop framing innocent people up, the same police that has become very notorious as a violator of peoples’ human rights is openly performing government magic and attempting to foist and impose a strange and utterly senseless charge on an innocent girl that her officers held hostage for over 72 days and never contacted her family nor charge her to court against the Constitutional provisions that obliges the police to bring up charges within 24 hours.”