By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
A middle-aged man, Iladion Emmanuel, has been arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), over alleged forgery of travel documents and other ancillary offenses.
The Commission, in a 5-count charge brought before Honourable Justice M.B. Idris of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 26, sitting in Nyanya, Abuja told the court how the accused person conspired with one Mrs. Obikwelu Emmanuela Odinaka, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is now deceased, to dishonestly obtain an official passport number F00035510 from the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Iladion Emmanuel is said to have taken advantage of the frosty relationship between the late Mrs. Obikwelu and her husband, Mr. Chuks Winston Obikwelu, to impersonate the character of the latter and signed a letter captioned “Consent for Issuance of Nigeria Standard Passports to Our Children,” when he was actually not Obikwelu Emmanuel Winston.
ICPC in Charge No: CR/085/2021 averred that Mr. Emmanuel Iladion had intended 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 children's biological father petitioned the Commission on Mr. 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.
Due to the defense counsel's failure to apply 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 subsequently adjourned to the 5th of July 2021 for commencement of trial. NNL.
