More than four years after she was unlawfully arrested, the fight for justice for 21-year-old Gloria Okolie is still dragging, leaving her caught between court victories and government silence.
Gloria was arrested on June 17, 2021, by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at Tiger Base in Owerri, Imo State. Instead of being treated as a citizen with rights, she was held incommunicado for over 70 days, reportedly forced into domestic servitude, and denied access to her family and lawyer. It took widespread public outcry before she was eventually charged to court.
Both the Federal High Court in Abuja and the ECOWAS Court of Justice later ruled that Gloria’s rights were grossly violated. On June 23, 2022, the FCT High Court awarded her ₦60 million in damages, while the ECOWAS Court followed with another ₦30 million, bringing her total compensation to ₦90 million.
Yet, over a year later, that money remains unpaid. Instead, Gloria has been left waiting — a painful reminder that even court victories in Nigeria often struggle to cross from paper to reality.
![image suggestion: A symbolic photo of empty courtroom chairs or a gavel lying idle, representing “justice delayed”]
Now, Amnesty International, RULAAC, CISLAC, Media Rights Agenda, HURSDEF, CITAD, CEHRAWS, and 15 other civil society groups have taken the matter directly to President Bola Tinubu. In a joint petition dated August 21, 2025, they urged him to step in, enforce the court judgments, and show the country that the rule of law still matters.
They reminded the President that Gloria’s lawyer has written at least three times to the Attorney-General of the Federation with no reply. To them, this silence is not just negligence — it’s dangerous. It signals that government institutions can ignore binding judgments without consequence.
The petition stressed that Nigeria, being a state party, has a legal duty to comply with the ECOWAS Court, whose authority it voluntarily accepted. They warned that continued refusal to obey would not only erode public confidence at home but also damage Nigeria’s reputation abroad.
They want Tinubu to do three things:
-
Direct the Attorney-General to comply with the court rulings immediately.
-
Mandate the Police to pay Gloria the ₦90 million compensation.
-
Use this case to show his administration’s genuine commitment to justice, accountability, and the rule of law.
To the petitioners, Gloria’s case is bigger than one young woman’s suffering. It is a mirror reflecting how deeply issues of abuse, impunity, and disregard for court orders run in Nigeria. For them, decisive action would not only bring long-overdue relief to Gloria but also send a strong message that justice can still work in this country.
