The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, has granted senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome permission to travel to the United Kingdom for a six-week medical trip, ordering the temporary release of his international passport after the prosecution raised no objection.
Justice Chizoba Oji ruled that the passport be released to enable Ozekhome to undergo medical treatment abroad, but directed that it must be returned to the court on or before August 26.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the judge also adjourned Ozekhome’s trial on charges of forgery and impersonation until September 28 to allow him complete his medical treatment and return to Nigeria.
Ozekhome and his co-defendant, Ponfa Useni, were arraigned on February 27 by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on a 12-count charge bordering on forgery and impersonation.
The charges stem from a protracted dispute over the ownership of a London property allegedly acquired using false identities.
According to the prosecution, the defendants conspired with the late Jeremiah Useni, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, to forge documents and create a fake Nigerian passport in the name of “Tali Shani” to lay claim to the property.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
So far, the prosecution has called two witnesses, including an officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service and a forensic document examiner, both of whom testified that the passport used in the property claim was fake.
The trial is expected to resume after Ozekhome’s return from the United Kingdom.