Raheem Akingbolu
The Chairman of DAAR Communications Limited, Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, has accused the Nigerian Immigration Service of deliberately framing him up for arrest when he returned from a medical trip to Dubai.
NIS recently alleged that the International Passport of Dokpesi, a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not stamped by its officials, upon his departure and return to the country. The NIS also alleged that Dokpesi did not travel with his valid International Passport, claiming that the Federal High Court in Abuja, that has been in possession of Dokpesi’s International Passport did not inform the NIS before releasing the passport to him.
He was again invited by the NIS, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, for questioning on the purported whereabouts of his international passport, instead of approaching the FHC, Abuja.
The issue took a new turn at the weekend, as the media mogul declared in a statement that the allegation was not only completely false but also existed only in the imaginations of the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. Mohammed Babandede and some officers.
The statement further added that Dokpesi travelled twice outside of the country between November 2018 and March 2019.
“On November 26, 2018, Chief Dokpesi left Nigeria to London via Dubai on Emirates Airlines. He also left Nigeria on March 8, 2019 to UAE and returned on March 22, 2019 also on Emirates Airlines. In all the trips, his only valid international passport (A50445496), was duly stamped by officials of the NIS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
It is therefore ridiculous, mischievous and completely unacceptable for a reputable agency like the NIS, to resort to falsehood and blackmail, in order to satisfy the vindictive administration of the All Progressive Congress- led federal government,” the statement stated.
The statement described Dokpesi as an honest and patriotic Nigerian that has not violated any known immigration laws as alleged by the NIS, adding that the NIS cannot claim ignorance of Dokpesi’s movements in and out of the country, as no commercial airline operating in Nigeria will airlift any passenger outside of the country without a valid International Passport, an entry Visa and other necessary immigration procedures.
