Published 23rd Mar, 2022

By Emmanuel Uti

Glory Okolie, the 21-year-old lady arrested by officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Imo and subsequently enslaved, has regained her freedom.

This comes 248 days after the IRT arrested her as bait to apprehend Uzoma Emojiri, an alleged commander of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group.

Harrison Gwamnishu, Glory’s lawyer, announced her release in a Facebook post titled “Freedom at Last” on Wednesday.

“More than four months in custody, Glory Okolie has been released from prison custody,” he said. “Glory Okolie was accused of terrorism and being a member of IPOB by IGP IRT, headed then by Abba Kyari. Congratulations to us.”

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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