The Abuja Federal High Court’s Justice Adeyemi Ajayi has issued some mandatory orders allowing Gloria Okolie to obtain the N60 million previously awarded to her by the FCT High Court presided over by Justice Haliyu.
According to Punch, the orders were issued by Justice Ajayi on Thursday, August 18, 2022.
It all began on June 23, 2022, when Justice Haliyu granted every relief sought in Okolie’s favor and awarded the sum in punitive and general damages caused by Nigerian police.
Despite several attempts by Okolie’s counsel to enforce the judgment, including letters and official representations written to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the police continued to defy the court’s order, prompting her counsel to take additional legal action.
The victim’s lawyer said, “The action by the AGF was what culminated into our filing of this case, where the court, today, being August 18, 2022, in an interim ruling, ordered and granted two reliefs.
“The court gave an order compelling the AGF to grant Okolie consent to enforce her judgement against the police, and aid her garnishee any of her awarded judgement funds in any public or financial institution owned by the Nigeria Police Force.
“Also, that on receipt of the above orders in the interim, the AGF should with immediate effect, commence the administrative steps and or the grant of the above orders shall be deemed grant of consent in line with section 84 of Sheriff’s and Civil process Act to enable Okolie garnishee or collect her judgement sum in any financial institutions, where the Nigeria police has an account.”
On June 17, 2021, officers of the Intelligence Response Team in Owerri, Imo State arrested Okolie, same day she sat for 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME) in the same state. It was alleged that the Nigeria Police Force illegally detained Okolie for about five months, and turned her into a maid while in police custody.
The police had accused her of acting as a spy for her boyfriend who is a suspected member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Okolie was later transferred to Abuja where she was accused of being a member of IPOB/Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Meanwhile, on November 23, 2021, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to Okolie in the sum of N10 million with two sureties, but she was able to perfect her bail conditions four months later.
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Following her release on March 23, 2022, Okolie filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the police, which was supported by over 51 civil society organizations.
In her case, she asked the FCT High Court to order the respondents, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Nigeria Police Force, to pay her N100 billion in general and punitive damages for infringing on her rights.
