ICPC prosecutes man over forgery of travel documents

A middle-aged man, Iladion Emmanuel, has been prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged forgery of travel documents and other additional offences.

ICPC, in a five-count charge brought before Honourable Justice M.B. Idris of the Federal Capital Territory High Court 26 in Nyanya, Abuja told the court how the accused person conspired with one Obikwelu Emmanuela Odinaka, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is now dead, to deceitfully acquire an official passport number F00035510 from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

The Spokesperson of the Commission, Azuka Ogugua, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.

Iladion Emmanuel is stated to have taken advantage of the bitter relationship between the late Mrs Obikwelu and her husband, Chuks Winston Obikwelu, to impersonate the character of the latter and signed a letter titled, “Consent for Issuance of Nigeria Standard Passports to Our Children,” when he was in fact not Obikwelu Emmanuel Winston.

The statement read, “ICPC in a Charge No: CR/085/2021 averred that Mr Emmanuel Iladion, had with the intention to mislead the Federal Government of Nigeria, knowingly given a false statement to the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service in the E-Official Diplomatic Passport Data Form.

“The defendant was also accused of assuming the personality of Mr Chuks Winston Obikwelu when he signed the Consent Form for Issuance of Nigeria Standard Passports as the father of Obikwelu Enyiazu Theresa, Obikwelu Emmanuela Chimdindu, Obikwelu Joan Onyekachi and Obikwelu Michael Elijah in the name of Obikwelu Emmanuel Winston, when he knew he was not the father of the above-mentioned children.

“Trouble began to brew for him when the biological father of the children petitioned the Commission on Iladion’s fraudulent acts.

“The accused person’s actions are contrary to sections 26 (1) (c) and 25 (1) (a) and punishable under sections (17) (c) and (25) (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and section 179 of the Penal Code Cap 532 Laws of FCT, Abuja.

“When the accused person was asked to take his pleas, he entered a “not guilty” plea. Owing to the failure of defense counsel to file an application for his client’s bail, the trial judge ruled that the accused be remanded in Kuje Correctional Service Centre pending a formal bail application.”

The case was later adjourned to July 5, 2021 to begin the trial.