A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the release of the official details of an alleged organ donor to a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who gave the order in a judgement delivered on Friday, directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and two commercial banks to release the details in their possession to the couple.
By the court order, all official information in relation to the donor, including the account opening package, are to be released to Senator Ekweremadu and his wife to ascertain his real age.
This followed an originating summon filed by Senator Ekweremadu and his wife through their counsel and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adegboyega Awomolo.
The couple are being detained by the United Kingdom authorities over allegations of conspiring to bring a child to Britain for organ harvesting with the donor said to be the victim.
Following their arrest by the London Metropolitan Police, the duo appeared before a UK court which ordered that they should be remanded in custody till July 7 while investigations continue into the allegations against them.
Although the Met police said the donor was 15, the NIS said it issued an international passport indicating his age as 21 after due process.
In a bid to clear his clients of the allegations, Awomolo approached the court in Abuja, seeking an order directing the NIMC to produce the Certified True Copy of the biodata of the donor.
Awomolo had prayed the court that the donor’s National Identification Number (NIN), which is in the possession of the NIMC, should be produced for the purpose of facilitating the criminal investigation and tendering same to establish his client’s innocence.
He asked that the Comptroller General of NIS be directed to provide his clients with the documents and application form which the donor presented to obtain his international passport, for the purpose of assisting the criminal investigation and tendering same before the Uxbridge Magistrate Court in the UK.
The SAN had also prayed the court for an order directing Stanbic IBTC Bank and UBA to provide the Certified True Copy of the donor’s mandate card and account opening package in their custody.