The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris, has broken silence on the allegation of organ harvesting involving former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.
Idris confirmed that the commission underwent due process in issuing Nigerian passport to Mr David Nwamini, who was allegedly trafficked to the United Kingdom for organ harvesting by Ekweremadu.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday, the Nigeria Immigration Service boss said David provided all necessary documents required including his birth certificate issued by the National Population Commission, which indicated that his date of birth was October 12, 2000.
In his words, “The fact of the matter concerning the case above, therefore, are that Mr David Ukpo Nwamini applied and paid for the e-passport using the NIS portal after which he approached the passport office in Gwagwalada, FCT Abuja, on November 2, 2021 for his interview.
“To support his application, Mr Nwamini presented all necessary documents required including his birth certificate issued by the National Population Commission, showing October 12, 2000 as his date of birth; his National Identification Number, issued by NIMC corroborating the date of birth; a Certificate of Origin issued by Ebonyi State Government Liaison office in Abuja, and a guarantor’s form duly signed.
“NIS relies on documentation supplied by other agencies and we are not under any obligation to go to those agencies to verify those documents. What we do is that we look at the documents and applicants physically. Once that is done, we go ahead to process.”
Recall that Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, were remanded in custody in London on Thursday charged with plotting to have a 15-year-old boy taken to the United Kingdom to harvest his organs.
This development was confirmed by the Metropolitan Police after the pair were charged to court on Thursday following an investigation by the police’ specialist crime team.
The police added that the investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
It was gathered that all the arrangements had been tied up with the boy’s family but that things went awry when after arriving in the United Kingdom, it was discovered that the boy whose age was given as 21 didn’t want to return to Nigeria as had been bargained.
