Nigerian national nabbed at BIA

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

A Nigerian national wanted for two Court cases in Colombo and who had tried to flee the country to Cambodia via Malaysia and Singapore with a forged Seychelles passport was nabbed by the immigration officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Sunday night.   

The suspect had tried to board a Malaysian Airlines flight MH 178 bound for Kuala Lumpur around 10.30pm Sunday with two boarding passes for KL and Singapore, the Immigration sources told the Daily Mirror.   
Although, he had managed to pass through the check-in counters the passenger was stopped at the Immigration counters as his passport looked dodgy. The Immigration Officer at the counter who felt suspicious about the passenger had referred him to the Chief Immigration Officer for further inquiries.   

There the suspect was questioned but the latter was somewhat unruly and arguing without cooperating with the officials and had refused to tell his actual whereabouts.   

The immigration officials then sought the expertise assistance of the BSU (Border Surveillance Unit) at the airport and the travel documents were subjected to a technical examination to learn that the Seychelles passport was forged.   

The passenger’s passport bore he was a Seychelles citizen under the name Payet Samson but officials found that he was originally a Nigerian national named Jude Chisimdiri Anyanwu of Abuja.   

Further the immigration system had provided details that the suspect had arrived in the country in 2018 and had been wanted by two investigations one at the Colombo High Court and the other at Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Courts over financial scams. He had been ordered not to leave the country until the cases are over and his original passport is believed to be impounded by Courts.   

Chief Immigration Officer C. Vidanagama and Immigration Officer M. A. Gunawardena are conducting further inquiries.They suspect that the Seychelles passport had been forged in Sri Lanka.   

The suspect had been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department officials at the BIA for further investigations.