The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has dismissed as an afterthought, the recent statement of the Nigerian Police tagging 22-year old girl, Gloria Okolie, who its operatives had held in captivity as a ‘slave’ for more than 70 days, a ‘spy girl’.
RULAAC strongly feels that the recent statement by the Force’s spokesperson, ‘has more potential of doing further damage to the already battered image of the Nigeria Police than the possibility of burnishing it’.
In a statement by the Executive Director of RULAAC, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, the group recalled that Gloria was reportedly arrested and kept in secret custody by the notorious Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at their Tiger Base office in Owerri, the Imo State capital, 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 six weeks and later released went to inform her parents that she was being detained at the IRT where she was turned to a slave.
The group noted also 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 before eventually transferring her to the Abuja office of the IRT after several visits by her parents and her lawyer who were denied access.
RULAAC regretted that 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 her unlawful detention and enslavement did the police now resort to the face saving stratagem of issuing a Press Release purporting that Gloria is a ‘Militant’s Spy Girl’, a likely attempt to incriminate her and justify their Illegal and unconstitutional actions.
Nwanguma argued further: “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 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 girl’s 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.
“And 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 one 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.”
