Aridegbe Akim, an officer with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), says the name Tali Shani used to claim a disputed London property does not appear in the database of the service.
Akim spoke while under cross-examination in the ongoing
trial of Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni, son of the late Jeremiah Useni,
the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are standing trial
on a 12-count charge before an FCT high court in Maitama.
They are alleged to have forged a passport, impersonating a
fictitious person, Tali Shani, to lay claim to the London property.
On the last adjourned date, Akim had stated that the
Nigerian passport with number A07535463, purportedly belonging to Tali Shani,
was not issued by the immigration service.
Under cross-examination by Tayo Oyetibo, Ozekhome’s counsel,
and F. R. Onoja, Ponfa’s counsel, the witness, a principal staff to the
comptroller general of the NIS, said the service keeps a record of all
passports it issued.
He said the service operates a comprehensive electronic
database that captures all passport details from application to issuance,
including biometric data and national identification number (NIN).
The witness said the NIS system is designed to retrieve the
full profile and history of any passport holder once their details are entered.
“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,”
he said.
He added that the passport issuance process involves several
stages, including payment, generation of breeder documents, biometric
enrolment, production and issuance.
Akim said none of these processes was found in relation to
the disputed passport.
He said Nigerian passports are machine-readable and contain
security features tied to unique identification numbers generated by
manufacturers.
He noted that although the disputed passport appeared
similar to genuine Nigerian passports, each valid document must correspond with
records in the NIS database.
After Akim’s testimony, A. R. Tahir, prosecuting counsel,
asked for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to call its second witness.
The request was not opposed by the defence.
Chizoba Oji, the presiding judge, adjourned the case to May
18 for continuation of trial.
BACKGROUND
The controversy centres on a property located at 79 Randall
Avenue, London NW2 7SX.
Named in the property dispute are Ozekhome and Jeremiah
Useni, a retired lieutenant-general and former FCT minister, who is now
deceased.
The case was filed at the First-tier Tribunal (Property
Chamber) Land Registration, United Kingdom (UK), under case number
REF/2023/0155, with Tali Shani as the applicant and Ozekhome as the respondent.
The property had been claimed by one “Ms Tali Shani” on one
hand and by Ozekhome on the other.
Ozekhome said he received the house as a gift from “Mr Tali
Shani” in 2021, while lawyers for “Ms Shani” insisted she was the rightful
owner.
A witness known as “Mr Tali Shani” testified in favour of
Ozekhome, claiming that he had “powers of attorney” over the property and had
transferred the property to the respondent (Ozekhome).
Mr Tali Shani asserted ownership of the property from 1993
and claimed he later appointed Useni as his property manager, describing him as
an “elder friend and business partner.”
On the other hand, several documents, including an obituary
announcement, NIN card, ECOWAS passport, phone number, etc., were tendered by
witnesses of “Ms Tali Shani” to claim ownership of the property.
However, the tribunal found all the documents tendered for
“Ms Tali Shani” to be fake. The tribunal subsequently dismissed all claims,
ruling that neither “Mr” nor “Ms” Tali Shani existed.
It held that the real owner, operating under a false
identity, was Useni.
Meanwhile, a federal high court in Abuja has granted final
forfeiture of a London property.
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