The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has denied reports that it issued a fresh international passport to Rebecca Godwin-Isaac while she was facing trial in Abuja. According to the NIS, the passport was issued on February 15, 2025, following her application for renewal. This was about four months before her arraignment before the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 18, 2025. The Service stated that the allegations suggesting the passport was issued during her trial were "false and misleading."
The NIS explained that Godwin-Isaac had previously been issued a Nigerian Passport No. B00485650 on August 13, 2021, which was valid until August 12, 2026. However, she applied for a new passport, which was issued as B51450551 on February 15, 2025, due to exhaustion of passport pages or other reasons. The Service emphasized that the issuance of the new passport was in line with regulations allowing for a new passport to be issued before the expiration of an existing one under certain circumstances.
The NIS stated that the issuance of the new passport automatically rendered the previous passport invalid. It clarified that at the time the new passport was issued, it had not received any court order restricting Godwin-Isaac from obtaining a passport or traveling outside Nigeria. The Service noted that the chronology of events did not support the claim that the passport was issued during her trial.
According to the NIS, Godwin-Isaac was arraigned before Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on June 18, 2025, approximately four months after the issuance of the new passport. The court subsequently made an order requiring her to deposit her passport, but this order was made after the issuance of the new passport. The NIS maintained that the responsibility to disclose and surrender the new passport to the court rested on Godwin-Isaac, as the defendant.
The NIS rejected the suggestion that its officials issued the passport while Godwin-Isaac was already undergoing trial, calling the allegation "completely unfounded." The Service stressed that such an allegation could create the impression that its officials knowingly issued an international passport to an individual who had already been ordered by a court to deposit her passport as part of her bail conditions.
The Immigration Service also disclosed that Godwin-Isaac traveled to Rwanda, Dubai, and London after the issuance of the new passport and after her arraignment. However, it said it had not received any communication from the Federal High Court, the prosecuting agency, or any other competent authority directing it to blacklist, watchlist, or otherwise restrict Godwin-Isaac from obtaining a Nigerian passport when her application was processed in February 2025.
The NIS maintained that it remained committed to upholding the rule of law and maintaining the integrity of Nigeria's passport issuance and border-management systems. It also pledged to cooperate with any lawful investigation into the matter and said it would make relevant records available to competent authorities whenever required.
Key points
- The Nigeria Immigration Service issued a fresh passport to Rebecca Godwin-Isaac on February 15, 2025, four months before her trial began.
- The Service denied allegations that the passport was issued during her trial, calling them "false and misleading."
- The NIS emphasized that it had not received any court order restricting Godwin-Isaac from obtaining a passport or traveling outside Nigeria at the time the new passport was issued.
