Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has released the international passport it seized from a former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili after incurring a N2m fine over alleged disobedience to court order.
The passport of former Rivers State governor, unlawfully confiscated by Immigration on the alleged order of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was released to Odili in his Abuja residence.
Earlier in October 2021, Justice Iyang Eden Ekwo of Federal High Court, Abuja ordered NIS to immediately release Odili’s international passport.
Read Also: Court Orders Immigration To Release Peter Odili’s Passport
He declared the seizure by the service as illegal, unconstitutional, and an infringement of his fundamental rights.
The judge further ordered the service, to tender an apology to the former governor, and restrained NIS from harassing and intimidating him from leaving the country or moving freely within the country.
Speaking about the release, NIS’ lawyer, Jimoh Adamu told a Federal High Court in Abuja that Odili’s daughter, Njideka Nwosu-Iheme, a serving judge of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), collected the passport for her father on December 20 last year at the Immigration headquarters in Abuja.
Adamu in a motion filed exhibited a letter of request by Odili and other evidence showing that he has received the passport.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, before whom the case came up on Monday, noted that the fresh motion was not yet before the court.
The judge summoned the senior lawyer to appear before him to defend his role in the refusal of his agency to comply with order of his court to release the passport.
