A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has instructed the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and some banks to release the biodata information of David Ukpo to former Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the order in a ruling on Friday after listening to Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).
Ekweremadu and his wife had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2022 urged the court to among others, order the defendants to supply them with the Certified True Copies (CTC) of David Ukpo’s biodata information in their care to aid their (plaintiffs) defense in their trial before a United Kingdom Magistrates’ Court, where they are accused of plotting to harvest Ukpo’s organ (kidney).
Other defendants 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 (NIBSS) Plc.
At the mention of the case on Friday, Awomolo withdrew against NIBSS, following which Justice Ekwo struck its name off the suit.
Awomolo proceeded to move the motion and drew the court’s attention to letters written by some of the defendants, indicating that they would not honor the plaintiffs’ request for information on Ukpo until there was a court order to that effect.
Ruling, Justice Ekwo said he was satisfied that the defendants had been served with the relevant court documents.
The judge added that by the averments in the application by Ekweremadu and his wife, he was satisfied that their prayers ought to be granted.
He said: “I make an order granting the prayers.”
