A forensic examiner testified in an Abuja High Court that an international passport presented in a UK property dispute involving Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome was forged and never issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service.
Bamaiyi Mairiga, an official of the Department of Forensic Examination of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), appeared as the second prosecution witness.
Mairiga told the court that the data page of the Nigerian international e-passport bearing the name “Tali Shani” and passport number A07535463 is a forged data page.
“The Check Digits for the passport number, DOB, and DOE of the passport are incorrect, and the passport data page has been forged/counterfeited to reflect the holder as Shani Tali,” he said.
The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation charged Ozekhome and Ponca Useni with 12 counts of forgery and impersonation on February 27.
The prosecution alleges the defendants conspired in 2020 to make a false Nigerian passport and created a fake “Irrevocable Power of Attorney” to help Ozekhome claim property in the UK.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
-How the examination was done-
Mairiga said the EFCC’s forensic department received the passport data page in February and analyzed it using ICAO procedures:
1. Keesing Technologies Document Checker (KTDC) – verified visual inspection zone details.
2. VSC 8000 ICAO OCR E-Passport Checker – verified date of birth, date of expiry, and passport number.
3. Manual Publication/Calculation – converted letters to numerals and recalculated check digits.
He explained that check digits were used by immigration and forensic officers to identify forged or counterfeited data pages.
-Court proceedings-
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, tendered the forensic report in evidence. The defence did not oppose the document.
During cross-examination, Ozekhome’s counsel Oyetibo SAN questioned the witness’s training.
Mairiga said he holds a four-year degree, a two-year mentorship, and a one-year postgraduate diploma, with certificates in all courses.
He confirmed no ink analysis was done, as the request was limited to comparing the machine-readable zone and visual inspection zone.
Justice Chizoba Oji adjourned the case to June 29 for further cross-examination.
