From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to immediately release the international passport of erstwhile governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili.
The NIS had, on June 20, 2021, seized Odili’s international passport on the grounds that it was acting on a directive from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which it said had placed the erstwhile governor on its watch list.
But, in a judgment, yesterday, Justice Inyang Ekwo held that there was no legal justification for the action the NIS took against the former governor.
In his suit before the court, Odili challenged the seizure of his international passport by the NIS.
He told the court that his passport with numbers B50031305 was seized by officials of NIS for undisclosed reason, shortly after he landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
He said the NIS had since refused to release the passport to him. He deposed to the fact he landed at the airport from the United Kingdom where he had gone for his routine medical checkup.
He prayed the court to compel the two respondents in the matter to release the passport to him, as well as to issue an order of perpetual injunction stopping them from further harassing, embarrassing, intimidating or interfering with his fundamental right to freedom of movement.
He equally prayed the court to compel the respondents to tender a written apology to him for the embarrassment caused him by the Immigration.