The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, Isah Jere Idris, has declared that due process was followed in the issuance of passport to David Nwamini Ukpo, the young man involved in the alleged case of organ harvesting plot by former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice.
The NIS boss made the declaration on Sunday at a virtual press conference.
He said the declaration became necessary against the backdrop of information making the round since the news of the arrest of Ekweremadu broke, insinuating that there might have been underhand dealing in the issuance of the passport to Ukpo.
His words: “Suffice, it be stated that the said Mr. David approached the application portal of the Service, applied and paid for the enhanced ePassport at the Gwagwalada Passport Office, FCT Abuja on the 2nd November, 2021. All the necessary documents including National Identity Number (NIN) issued by NIMC, letter of introduction issued by Ebonyi State Government Liaison Office situated on Mississipi Maitama District Abuja, Birth Certificate issued by the National Population Commission and other relevant documents to support the application of Mr. David were presented for processing.
“These documents were issued by competent offices and the necessary verifications were made to confirm their validity and correctness. Consequent upon this therefore, the said Passport was issued to him having satisfied the basic requirements.”
Among other details, the NIS CG confirmed that the man involved is 21 years old.
The NIS boss said it took his organisation some time to speak on the issue because of the need for a thorough investigation into the process of issuing the document.
He urged members of the public not to believe the information on the social media insinuating that there could have been some malpractices in the issuance of the young man’s passport.
The former deputy senate president and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested on June 23, and charged in London with organ-harvesting plot.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, have been refused bail.
Ekweremadu served three terms as Nigeria’s deputy president of the Senate, from 2007 to 2019.
The lawyer and politician has been a senator since 2003 and belongs to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Investigation into the case was said to have started when detectives were alerted to potential modern day slavery offences.
Charges followed an inquiry by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Team.
The statement reads in full:
“The attention of the Comptroller General of Immigration Isah Jere Idris has been drawn to some reports alleging that the issuance of a Nigerian Standard Passport to one Mr. David Ukpo Nwamini who has been mentioned in an ongoing investigation by the UK authorities on human trafficking case did not follow due process.
“Some aspects of the reports are suggesting that due diligence was not observed in the issuance of the said document to Mr. David.
“To the contrary, the Service has continued to demonstrate capacity and sophistication in the administration and issuance of the Passports to eligible persons including Mr. David in the most professional manner. It is important to state that Nigeria is one of the first four countries in the world to deploy modern technological tools to run the electronic Passport platform as far back as 2007. Ever since then, significant improvements have been recorded including migration to the enhanced ePassport regime recently, a technology that has added some additional security features and options of Passport categories to applicants.
“It is in the strength of the foregoing that one wonders about the validity of such claims that due process was not observed in the issuance of the Passport issued to Mr. David Ukpo Nwamini. Suffice, it be stated that the said Mr. David approached the application portal of the Service, applied and paid for the enhanced ePassport at the Gwagwalada Passport Office, FCT Abuja on the 2nd November, 2021. All the necessary documents including National Identity Number (NIN) issued by NIMC, letter of introduction issued by Ebonyi State Government Liaison Office situated on Mississipi Maitama District Abuja, Birth Certificate issued by the National Population Commission and other relevant documents to support the application of Mr. David were presented for processing.
“These documents were issued by competent offices and the necessary verifications were made to confirm their validity and correctness. Consequent upon this therefore, the said Passport was issued to him having satisfied the basic requirements.
“The Comptroller General therefore, wishes to use this medium to state categorically that all Passport applications especially fresh ones are usually subjected to stringent screening exercises before issuance. Mr. David’s application was not an exception. This is done not only to ensure that our Passports are issued to eligible persons but that the process is transparent enough to sustain the integrity of our travel document.”
