A prosecution witness, Mr Aridegbe Akim, told an Abuja High Court yesterday that a passport bearing the name of “Tali Shani” was not issued by the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness said this in his evidence at the opening of the trial of Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Ponfa Useni in the alleged London property fraud.
The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) dragged Ozekhome and Useni to court on a 12-count charge bordering on forgery.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants forged documents including an international passport and an irrevocable power of attorney to lay claim to a property in London allegedly procured unlawfully by the late General Jeremiah Useni.
Ozekhome and co-defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, called the first witness, PW1, who is a principal staff member to the Comptroller General of NIS.
Through the witness, the prosecution tendered several documents, ranging from EFCC letters to NIS and NIS’s responses to the EFCC. In addition, passports, genuine and fake.
Tayo Oyetibo SAN, counsel for Ozekhome and F. R. Onoja SAN, for Useni, however, did not object but reserved their comments for the final written address.
Trial judge, Justice Chizoba Oji, admitted the documents and subsequently marked them as Exhibits.
Led in evidence by Oyedepo, the witness said the Nigerian passport, A07535463, “Was not issued by the NIS.
” It is not in our database; the passport belonging to Tali Shani is fake.”
Akim told the court that the NIS received letters from the EFCC requesting authentication of the passports of Useni and Tali Shani.
He said, after checking the Immigration’s database, officers discovered that one of the passports was not issued by the NIS, while the other, belonging to one Useni, was issued by the NIS
He added that this finding was forwarded to the EFCC.
The witness was asked to explain the procedure and application for the issuance of the passport to the court.
He noted that after an online payment for the passport, the database generates the record; the breeder documents are then generated and entered into the system alongside the National Identification Number (NIN).
“This then generates the data for every applicant for a passport.
“Nigerian Passports are now encrypted into the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which makes it easier for international borders to access biometric data.
” Therefore, any passport the NIS produces goes through a systematic process before its final production. But such was not the case with Tali Shani.
“On typing in Tali Shani’s name, no record was found”
Akim said that the NIS system works in such a way that “Once you type a name, it brings out the particulars and history of that person.”
The witness told the court that the NIS received a letter from the EFCC to interview Abdulkadir Lawal.
He added that after checking the services’ legal unit and nominal roll, no one with that name exists.
” We then communicated our findings to the EFCC.”
” The NIS extended the search to IPPIS to be sure of their discovery and thus, “no one like that exists.”
Being cross-examined by Oyetibo, the witness informed the court that he became a principal staff officer in December 2023, but was on out-post duty outside Nigeria prior to July 2023.
He also informed the court that Nigeria had been fully admitted to PKG and PKI, which are ICAO upgrades scheduled for 2025.
Akim recalled that the first letter NIS received from the EFCC was one referring to Abdulkadir Lawal.
Oyetibo then requested an adjournment.
Justice Oji then adjourned the matter until 15 April for the continuation of cross-examination.
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