Odili Sues Immigration over Seized Passport, NIS Says Ex-gov on EFCC’s Watch List

Alex Enumah

Former Rivers State governor, Dr Peter Odili, has dragged the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and it’s Comptroller General before a Federal High Court in Abuja, over the sezure of his international password at the Nnamdi Azikwe International airport in Abuja for undisclosed reasons.

In the fundermental rights enforcement suit, he claimed that the international passport with numbers B50031305 was seized from him on June 20, 2021 by operatives of the Immigration Service and had since been witheld.

In an 8-paragraph affidavit he personally deposed to, the former governor claimed that the passport was seized from him upon his return to Nigeria from the United Kingdom where he had gone for his medicals.

Odili averred that on his arrival, his traveling documents were checked and given back to him and that while waiting for his luggage an official of Immigration demanded for the passport on claim of routing check which he complied with but that the document has since been witheld.

He claimed to be a senior citizen of Nigeria, law abiding and had not done anything to warrant the seizure of the passport from him.

Odili prayed Justice Ahmed Mohammed to compel the two respondents to release the passport to him and also issue an order of perpetual injunction against the respondents from further harrassing, embarrassing, intimidating or interfering with his fundermental right to freedom of movement.

The former governor also demanded a written apology for the embarrassment caused him by the Immigration.

However in a counter affidavit by the Immigration Service, It was revealed that Odili’s passport was seized because he was on the watch list of the EFCC.

The affidavit deposed to by one Okwe Ernest of the Legal Department of the Immigration Service averred that Odili was watch listed at the request of the EFCC.

The Immigration Service claimed that the former governor was not entitled to the request presented before the court and that his suit should be dismissed for being premature.

Deponent asserted that the action of Immigration was as a result of collaborations of all the federal government security agencies and that the respondents were only carrying out their statutory functions.

The affidavit said that since the passport was seized, Odili had never for once demanded for its release or cared to know why it was seized.

When the matter came up on Wednesday, counsel to Immigration Service Mr Jimoh Abdulkadir Adamu informed Justice Mohammed that he had just filed counter affidavit to oppose the suit of the former governor and served same on him as required by law.

Adamu, the Legal Adviser to the two respondents sought a brief adjournment to enable him put his house in order.

Odili’s lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, SAN, did not oppose the request for the short adjournment

Justice Mohammed subsequently fixed September 28 to hear the matter.