Ekweremadu saga: NIS issued a valid passport to Nwamina and his 21-CG
The Comptroller General of Immigration, Isa Jere Idris has confirmed that the passport been paraded on social media with the name David Ukpo Nwamina is valid and was issued by the Nigerian Immigration. Nwamina is the boy connected to the arrest of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice by London Metropolitan Police. The couple was charged to court over charges that they trafficked a 15-year-old Lagos boy identified as David Ukpo Nwamina with the intention to harvest his organ.
The CG gave the confirmation during a Zoom press conference on issuance of passport to David Ukpo Nwamina where he insisted that the boy met all the requirements needed and was born on October 12, 2000.
In his words, he said: “The attention of the Service has been drawn to the trending issue in connection with an alleged case of age falsification on a Nigerian Standard Passport issued by Nigeria Immigration Service to a Nigerian who is alleged to be at the Centre of an investigation of the case of “organ harvesting”.
The Service wishes to set the record straight by informing the general public that the suggestions that it did not properly vet the breeder documents issued by the applicant during his passport application are not only off the mark, but mere fabrications aimed at tarnishing the image of the Service.
“The facts of the matter concerning the case above, therefore, are that the said Mr. David Ukpo Nwamina applied and paid for the enhanced standard passport using the NIS portal after which he approached the Gwagwalada Passport Office, FCT Abuja, on the November 2, 2021 for his interview. To support his application, Nwamina presented all the necessary documents required, including his National Population Commission (NPC) issued Birth Certificate, showing 12 October, 2000, as his date of birth; his National Identity Number (NIN) corroborating the date of birth on his birth certificate, issued by NIMC; a letter of introduction issued by Ebonyi State Government Liaison Office situated at Maitama District Abuja, and a Guarantor’s form duly signed by one Mr. Uchechukwu Chukwuma Ogbonno.
“In view of the above, the general public may wish to be informed that the date of birth, or any other information for that matter, on any Nigerian passport is printed on the document only after a thorough vetting process that involves both physical and forensic examination of the applicant’s breeder documents. Nwamina’s case, therefore, was not different.”
He also assured that Service is committed towards protecting the integrity of the passport and appealed to the general public to desist from making unfounded utterances as they are capable of denting the image of the Service.
Credit: Sun News
