The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isah Jere Idris, on Sunday, cleared the air on the controversy surrounding the true age in the passport with which David Ukpo Nwamini, who was alleged to have been trafficked to the United Kingdom for organ harvest by a former deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, used to travel to the UK.
He said the passport was actually issued by the organisation with the due process followed to the letter and with the date of birth of Nwamini as October 12, 2000, meaning he is now 21 years old.
He spoke virtually in an interaction with the newsmen to put the record as regards the passport controversy straight.
According to him, the passport was issued in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on November 2, 2021.
By this revelation, the actual age of Nwamini as an adult shown in his travelling document is contrary to his claim before the British Police that he is a 15-year-old minor, upon which Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested.
Meanwhile, Ekweremadu, a serving senator and his wife whose one of their daughters is suffering from kidney failure and needed a replacement from a donor who was supposed to be Nwamini were both arrested by the British Metropolitan Police at the airport upon arrival in the UK.
The two of them were accused of child trafficking which is contrary to international law and consequently arraigned for that before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court last week.
Speaking further, the NIS boss explained that the organisation delayed this clarification to this time so as to enable it to get the validity of the passport issued to Nwamini from the database.
He said it was disheartening that many media houses in the country particularly the online platforms published falsehoods as regards the Nwamini’s passport to the public without verification from the right authority which is NIS.
He said NIS processed and issued a passport to Nwamini based on his documents as a Nigerian citizen with the National Identification Number (NIN), Ebonyi State of Origin letter and his Birth Certificate issued by the National Population Commission (NPC).
He said those were major documents required by law for NIS to issue a passport to any Nigerian citizen.
He said further investigations if necessary of those documents could now be directed to those agencies for verification.
He, however, noted that as of Sunday when he addressed the newsmen over the issue, neither the British Government nor Senator Ekweremadu or the leadership of Nigeria’s Senate has contacted NIS on the matter. (Nigerian Tribune)
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