A prosecution witness on Friday told the Abuja High Court that a passport bearing the name “Tali Shani” was not issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service.
The witness, Mr Aridegbe Akim, gave the testimony during the opening of the trial involving Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, and Ponfa Useni over an alleged London property fraud.
The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation had arraigned the duo on a 12 charges bordering on forgery.
According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly forged several documents, including an international passport and an irrevocable power of attorney, to lay claim to a property in London reportedly acquired unlawfully by the late General Jeremiah Useni.
However, Ozekhome and Useni both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo SAN presented the first prosecution witness (PW1), who serves as a principal staff officer to the Comptroller General of the NIS.
Through the witness, the prosecution tendered several documents in court, including correspondence between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the NIS, as well as responses from the immigration service. Genuine and alleged fake passports were also presented as exhibits.
Counsel to Ozekhome, Tayo Oyetibo SAN, and counsel to Useni, F. R. Onoja SAN, did not oppose the admissibility of the documents but reserved their comments until the final written address.
Justice Chizoba Oji admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as exhibits.
While being led in evidence by Oyedepo, the witness told the court that the Nigerian passport with number A07535463 “was not issued by the NIS.
”It is not in our database; the passport belonging to Tali Shani is fake.”
Akim explained that the immigration service received requests from the EFCC to verify the authenticity of passports belonging to Useni and Tali Shani.
He said that after checking the NIS database, officials discovered that one of the passports was not issued by the service, while the other passport belonging to Useni was confirmed to be genuine.
According to him, the findings were subsequently communicated to the EFCC.
The witness also explained to the court the procedure involved in obtaining a Nigerian passport.
He said the process begins with an online payment, after which the system generates a record for the applicant. Relevant documents are then uploaded into the system together with the applicant’s National Identification Number.
“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.”
He further told the court that the NIS database automatically produces the details and history of any individual once their name is entered.
Akim also revealed that the NIS had received another request from the EFCC to interview one Abdulkadir Lawal.
According to him, checks conducted within the service’s legal unit and nominal roll showed that no staff member bears that name.
He said the immigration service also extended the search to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, which confirmed the same outcome.
”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.”
During cross-examination by Oyetibo, the witness stated that he assumed his current position as principal staff officer in December 2023, adding that he had been on outpost duty outside Nigeria prior to July 2023.
He also informed the court that Nigeria was fully admitted into PKG and PKI, which are upgrades introduced by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in 2025.
Akim further recalled that the first letter the NIS received from the EFCC was related to Abdulkadir Lawal.
Following the development, Oyetibo requested an adjournment to continue the cross-examination.
Justice Oji subsequently adjourned the case until April 15 for continuation of proceedings.
