Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy senate president, and his wife Beatrice are accused of trafficking David to the UK for organ harvesting.
On Thursday, the pair were charged with conspiracy and organ harvesting in the Uxbridge Magistrate Court in London.
The prosecutor had claimed David, a 15-year-old boy, was unaware that he was in the UK to donate a kidney until he went for a hospital appointment with the Ekweremadus.
However, online images of his passport showed that David is 21 years old, stoking rumors that the passport could have been obtained unlawfully.
Idris Jere, the acting Comptroller-General of Immigration, said in a statement on Sunday that the Service followed the law when it issued David his passport.
The statement partly read, “The Service wishes to set the record straight by informing the general public that the views being expressed that the service did not properly vet the breeder documents issued by the applicant during his passport application process are not correct, 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 e-passport using the NIS portal after which he approached the Gwagwalada Passport Office, FCT Abuja, on November 2, 2021
for his interview.”
Jere said David provided the needed documents and was duly assessed by the service.
He said, “To support his application, Mr. Nwamina presented all the necessary documents required, including his birth certificate issued by National Population Commission, showing October 12, 2000, as his date of birth; his National Identity Number, issued by NIMC corroborating the date of birth; a certificate of origin issued by Ebonyi State Government Liaison Office Abuja, and a Guarantor’s form duly signed.
“In view of the above, the general public may wish to be informed that the date of birth, or any other information, on any Nigerian passport is printed on the document only after a thorough vetting process that involves both the applicant’s breeder documents and the person. Mr. Nwamina’s case, therefore, was not an exception.”
However, Jere emphasized that the Service was dedicated to preserving the validity of the Nigerian passport.
