By Edith Nwapi
A prosecution witness Mr Aridegbe Akim, testified that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) database captures all legally issued passports, allowing for the verification of genuine travel documents.
The witness made this known in his evidence during 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 Ponfa to court on a-12-count -charge bordering on forgery.
The defendants were alleged to have 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 Lt.-Gen. Jeremiah Useni.
Ozekhome and Ponfa however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Akim, a principal staff to the comptroller General of NIS, was cross-examined by Ozekhome’s counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN and Ponfa’s counsel F. R. Onoja SAN.
The witness stated that when a name is entered into the NIS system, it generates the particulars and history of that person, and therefore, a passport not found in the database is considered fake.
The witness said that Nigerian Passports are machine readable documents.
The witness added that the passports have specific features that can be read by specific machines.
When asked if NIS has the record of all the passports issued in its database, he said yes.
” NIS has a process which includes payment breeder documents, enrolment, production and issuance , those were not found in the database of the passport in dispute ” he said.
When asked if the passport in dispute looked the same with the ones NIS issues, he answered yes.
He agreed that all passports bear a unique number but that the data page are different having enrolled the applicant and passport produced.
” It is the manufacturer that generates unique number for every passport “
The witness had earlier explained that after an online payment for a passport, the database generates the record, the breeder documents are then generated and input into the system, alongside the National Identification Number (NIN).
Answering Oyetibo ‘s questions earlier, the witness told the court that NIS has electronic records of passports issued monthly in their database.
Akim explained earlier that the NIS system works in such a way that, “Once you insert a name, it brings out the particulars and history of that person, but on inserting this Tali Shani, no record was found.”
After the cross-examination by the defendants counsel, the prosecution counsel, A R Tahir, asked for a date to call his second witness.
Both counsel for defendants did not oppose the request.
Justice Chizoba Oji then, adjourned the matter until May 18, for continuation of trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendants were accused of making a false Nigerian International Passport No. A07535463 with the name Tali Shani, with intent to support their claim of ownership to a property known as No. 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2.
The prosecution said the offence is contrary to section 363 of the Penal Code Act CAP 532 Laws of the FCT 2006 and punishable under section 364 of the same Act. (NAN)(www.nanews.ng)