The suspects, Adebayo Kazeem and Babalola Kehinde, were about to board a Cairo-bound Egypt Airline flight on Thursday, but the Migration Information and Data Analysis System failed to scan their passports due to “an imposed fake identity of the true holder.”
A statement by the NIS spokesman, DCI Sunday James, said, “They were duly subjected to interrogation when caught against their claim of traveling for business as the journey was arranged by a suspect, Muri, whose number was called many times without response.”
“He was alleged to be behind the processing of the tampered passports with a man’s picture on the chip when read by the MIDAS scanner; an offence punishable by the Immigration Act 2015 on passport-related offences relating to aiding, identity theft and tampering with a passport.”
The statement titled, ‘NIS operatives arrest two girls with tampered passports,’ further said the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, had ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
The CG also said to have directed that the two passports be withdrawn as evidence and kept in custody until Muri was arrested.
The service said Kazeem and Babalola would be the prosecution witnesses during the trial of Muri, whenever he is found.