The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, had ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to immediately release the international passport of a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili.
The judgement was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Monday, TrackNews Online reports.
Recall that Odili, who was governor of Rivers State from 1999 to 2007, had his passport seized by the NIS.
Ruling on the case brought before it by Odili, Justice Ekwo stated that there was no legal justification for the action the NIS took against the former governor.
The former Rivers governor had earlier told the court that his passport with numbers B50031305, was seized from him on June 20 by NIS officials for undisclosed reason, shortly after he landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
He further stated that the NIS had since refused to release the passport to him.
In an 8-paragraphed affidavit he personally deposed to, the former governor, said he landed at the airport from the United Kingdom where he had gone for his routine medical checkup.
He disclosed that upon his arrival, his traveling documents were checked and given back to him, but while he waited for his luggage to be cleared, an Immigration official approached him and demanded for the passport on claim of routing check.
Odili told the court that he complied and handed his documents over to the official who went away with and failed to return it back.
He stressed that he is a law abiding senior citizen of Nigeria that did not do anything to warrant the seizure of his passport.
While praying the court to intervene in the matter, Odili prayed the court to compel the Respondents to tender written apology to him for the embarrassment caused him by the Immigration.
Cited as Respondents in the matter were the NIS and its Comptroller General.
