Published 31st Mar, 2022

By Abdullah Tijani

The police force in Owerri, Imo State, has rearrested Glory Okolie, the 22-year-old lady who recently regained freedom after arrest and enslavement by officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Imo.

Okolie was released eight days ago following a court order which granted her bail on August 27, 2021, but in a phone conversation with FIJ, Samuel Ihensekhien, the Abuja-based lawyer representing her, said the police rearrested her on Thursday morning.

“It’s been 10 hours since they took her,” Ihensekhien said. “And when I spoke with the police public relations officer in Imo, he said they would release her soon.”

When contacted by FIJ, DSP Michael Abattam, the Imo State police public relations officer, said he was in a meeting and could not answer questions directed to him.

On June 17, 2021, the IRT arrested Glory and held her as a maid for several weeks. All the while, her family was visiting hospitals and mortuaries in search of her.

In late June 2021, a young man released from IRT custody in Owerri informed them that he saw her in detention. He stated that the officers had turned her into a maid who cooked and cleaned for them.

Glory’s family members immediately went to the IRT headquarters, but the police barred them from seeing her. Rather, they compelled the family to pay a fee.

Behind Bars Right Initiative (BBI), a human rights group fighting Glory’s course, said the IRT detained her as a pawn to arrest an IPOB member with whom she was in a relationship. She was later transported to an Abuja jail and identified as an IPOB member.

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