The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to pay N30 million to Gloria Okolie, who was arrested in 2021 on the allegations of being a spy for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), for the abuse and enslavement she underwent.
Justice Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves, sitting in the ECOWAS Court on Thursday, stated that Okolie was unfairly detained beyond 60 days, which is the legally admissible period of detention for a capital offence following her arrest by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the police.
The IRT detained Okolie, who was 21 years old at the time, for 248 days and made her serve as a maid in detention.
Samuel Ihensekhien Jr., counsel to Okolie, told FIJ on Thursday that the federal government of Nigeria admitted to detaining Okolie for more than 90 days illegally, a breach of all statutes known to law, treaty, the Nigerian constitution and any legal framework.
Ihensekhien Jr. said that besides the N30 million charges awarded against the NPF, the court also mandated the federal government to pay one million to the 24-year-old Okolie due to its nonchalant and disdainful attitude in court. The court held that the federal government delayed the proceedings and hearing of the case because it refused to file a court process.
“Besides this, there is also a local judgment from the local High Court that has also awarded her the sum of N60 million. Today, the federal government of Nigeria owes N90 million in terms of judgment (on Okolie’s case),” Ihensekhien Jr. said.
“This judgment where they awarded N60 million to her against the federal government was delivered on June 23, 2022, by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.”
In 2021, Okolie had left her house on June 17 of the same year and never returned. She was kept at the office of the IRT, Owerri, where she was washing clothes and cooking.
After a social media uproar, the police admitted to having her in their custody on the basis that she worked closely with “one Benjamin Uzoma Emojiri, also known as ‘Onye Army’, one of the ESN commanders earlier declared wanted by the Police for his lead role in planning, coordinating and executing the attack on the Imo State Police Command Headquarters and Imo State Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service”.
Okolie later went on to sue Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, for the ordeal the NPF put her through.
