Bamaiyi Haruna Mairiga, a prosecution witness, has testified that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) cannot issue passports that fail to comply with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Mairiga made the assertion on Monday during the ongoing trial of constitutional lawyer Professor Mike Ozekhome and one other defendant before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The testimony provides a technical perspective on the regulatory obligations of the NIS, suggesting that the service’s ability to produce travel documents is fundamentally tied to international aviation protocols.
Regulatory requirements for Nigerian travel documents
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the United Nations specialised agency responsible for the administration and governance of international civil aviation. It establishes the global technical specifications for machine-readable travel documents, including the inclusion of biometric data and specific security features.
Compliance with these standards is essential for the global interoperability of travel documents. For Nigeria, adhering to ICAO protocols ensures that the nation’s passports are recognised at international borders, allowing for the seamless movement of citizens. Any deviation from these technical specifications would likely result in the rejection of Nigerian documents by foreign immigration authorities.
Mairiga’s testimony suggests that the NIS operates within a technical framework that makes it impossible to bypass these international requirements. This point is critical to the legal arguments being presented in the trial involving Professor Ozekhome, as it touches upon the legitimacy and production processes of the passports in question.
The NIS is tasked with the regulation of all movement across Nigeria’s borders, a mandate that requires high levels of document integrity to prevent identity theft and fraud. The implementation of ICAO-compliant e-passports was a major step in aligning Nigeria’s migration management with global security standards.
The legal proceedings against Ozekhome and his co-defendant are ongoing, with the court set to hear further evidence from the prosecution.
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