JUST IN ! Court Rules in Favour of Ekweremadu, Orders Agency, Banks to Release David’s BioData

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled in favour of embattled former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice in a case file where the Nigeria Immigration Service and the National Identity Management Commission were mentioned as defendants.

Senator Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested and detained in the United Kingdom since Thursday last week for an alleged conspiracy to bring a child to Britain for organ harvesting.

It was also alleged that the couple transported the “minor” David Ukpo Nwamini to the UK to harvest his organs.

Ekweremadu’s arrest by the London Metropolitan Police generated widespread reactions as the story unfolds.

The Ekweremadu’s were subsequently arraigned before Uxbridge Magistrate 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 Nwamini was 15, the NIS said it issued an international passport indicating his age as 21 after due process.

However, Ekweremadu and his wife through their counsel and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adegboyega Awomolo, on June 27 sued NIMC and four others.

Defending 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 details of David Ukpo Nwamini.

The SAN prayed the court that Nwamini’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 also asked that the Comptroller General of NIS be directed to provide his clients with the documents and application form which Nwamini 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 Nwamini’s mandate card and opening account package in their custody.

Others mentioned in the suit are the Comptroller General (C-G), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Stanbic-IBTC Bank; United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc as 2nd to 5th respondents respectively.

Hearing the case on Friday, Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled that the NIMC and two commercial banks involved in the matter to release Nwamini’s details in their possession to the couple.