How a court registry in Ebonyi State issues fake marriage certificates to couples and causes emotional trauma when such couples are separated on grounds of ‘fraudulently’ contracted marriage!

NNANNA McGarvin Nwachi graduated from Federal University of Technology, Minna Niger State and did his mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps at Bauchi. Armed with his Bachelor Technology degree, Nnanna, returned to his state of origin, Ebonyi and secured a job with an indigenous construction company. Because of the company’s hire today and fire tomorrow policy, Nnanna did not last on the job. He, however, secured employment with the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education as higher technical instructor and was posted to Ehugbo Technical College. He was fortunate to meet Dawna on the social network site, Facebook. They shared deep love and admiration for each other upon which they declared that whenever they are opportuned to meet in real life, marriage would be the next thing. That chance came in the year 2011. But instead of taking the marriage to another level, a fraudulent marriage certificate put a lull on their scintillating love story.

When Dawna Rosemary Nwachi (nee Boon) a Canadian citizen and Nigeria’s Nnanna McGarvin Nwachi tied the nuptial knot, they felt that they have escaped the final gate of loneliness to live together as husband and wife happily ever after. How wrong their feeling must have turned to be; little did they suspect that a humdrum piece of paper styled ‘Marriage Certificate’ should put them asunder.

Even as this report was being written, pretty Dawna, whose love propelled through millions of miles and across continents, is still torn between trepidation and disbelief. How did things go wrong when she thought it was finally over?

On August 25, 2011, Dawna covenanted her marriage to Nnanna at the Marriage Registry of the High Court of Justice, Afikpo. Forthwith the Registrar, Mrs. Christiana Ezeali, who celebrated the marriage, issued them with the certificate of marriage. Dawna developed goose pimples from the unspeakable joy of being joined to her heartthrob in the quiet undulating topography of Afikpo, Ebonyi State. Being a Christian, and in a bid to make assurance doubly sure, the couple added a church wedding at True Worshipers Assembly on September 4, 2011; in the same ancient town of Afikpo. After about 30 eventful days in Nigeria enjoying the tropical sun, Dawna decided to go back to Canada, this time not as Miss Dawna Boon but Mrs. Dawna Nwachi. The memories of time well spent with Nnanna lingered in her minds. As the aircraft taxied along the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Mrs. Nwachi was lost in mental reverie dreaming of the day her husband would join her in Canada. She decorated her mental architecture of a lovely home with Nnanna and their children, capping up with their eventual return to the rural Afikpo community in Southeast Nigeria.Then the melody changed!

In an interview with The Guardian, Mr. Nnanna Mcgarvin Nwachi, who is an instructor at Ehugbo Technical College, said that after traveling back to Canada, his wife started perfecting plans for him to join her over there. “When she left after about 30 days stay in Nigeria, she started making arrangements for me to come over; she started applying for my immigrant visa. Finally I was called up for visa interview at the Canadian High Commission in Accra, Ghana.”

Nnanna added that after going through the documents he presented to back his application for an immigrant visa, the visa officer declared that the marriage certificate was fraudulent. “He was able to pinpoint some loopholes on the certificate and automatically the visa was denied,” Mr. Nwachi recalled amidst visible pain. Did the matter end with simple denial of visa? “No,” he added, “I was told that I have been banned for two years for presenting a fraudulent marriage certificate”.

Mr. Nwachi disclosed that upon returning from Ghana, he started making enquiries to ascertain why the certificate he got from a court of competent jurisdiction should be declared fraudulent. “My wife had to travel down to Nigeria again and we met the Chief Registrar and Chief Judge of Ebonyi State, Mrs. Stella Onuorah and Justice Aloy Nwankwo respectively. The Chief Judge issued us with a letter of apology and promised to deal with the case squarely. We were later issued with a genuine marriage certificate in lieu of the defective one by the Chief Judge and the marriage registrar, who contracted our marriage was suspended from office immediately.”

Mr. Nwachi noted that though the actions of both the Chief Registrar and Ebonyi State Chief Judge have been “ supportive, assertive and expedient”, he would like justice to be done. He, however, declared that he and his wife are yet to agree on possible legal action to press for damages.

“Under normal circumstances, I think I should. In a worse case scenario, I think I should press for damages for the embarrassment, emotional turmoil and loss of good name.”

In her own account, the Chief Registrar, Ebonyi State High Court, Abakaliki, Mrs. Stella Onuorah, narrated to The Guardian how in 2004 shortly after Justice Aloy Nwankwo mounted the saddle as the State Chief Judge, he ordered her to take care of celebration of marriages with directive that all those celebrating marriages in the past should surrender the certificates and seals in their possession. Mrs. Onuorah explained that upon receiving that directive, she went further to create a separate office for the celebration of marriages within the registry pointing out that whenever the office runs short of marriage certificates, she sends somebody from the office to the Ministry of Interior, Abuja to obtain fresh stocks. The Chief Registrar disclosed that when the Nwachis came to the High Court with their allegations, Mrs. Ezeali was invited for explanations. “She denied knowledge of the directive from the CJ adding that after being authorised to celebrate marriages she was among those who went for on the job training,” the Chief Registrar stated.

However, responding to The Guardian’s inquiry, the Chief Registrar said she did not think that the Chief Judge’s directive on those mandate by his predecessor to discontinue celebrating marriage was communicated to the zonal High courts in the state. Further Mrs. Onuorah said Mrs. Ezeali claimed that she had been celebrating marriages since 2003.

“When she brought up the complaint that she celebrated a marriage that was being questioned by the Canadian High Commission, we told her that what she was issuing was not a certificate. She disclosed that when she ran out of stock, she was advised by one Mr. P. U. Igwe, her subordinate that has since retired from service, to go and print more copies from the template. On its face value it was not a certificate but a mere computer print out replete with grammatical, typographical and structural errors,” the Chief Registrar declared.

The puzzle about the whole thing is why Mrs. Ezeali did not report to the Judiciary headquarters in Abakaliki for additional copies of marriage instead of going to print fresh copies by herself. These facts were evident: There was no serial number in the marriage certificates issued at Afikpo High Court Registry by Mrs. Ezeali from 2003 including the ones issued to the Nwachis, the motto on Nigerian coat of arms stopped at Unity and Faith without peace and progress, at the point where Form ought to have been written, it was From that was written while another grammatical error, married replaced ‘marriage’. It was indeed a product of a street side computer operator. According to the Chief Registrar, it was discovered that Mrs. Ezeali was only issued one certificate booklet like others in 2003.

“But there was no proper record keeping of the marriages she had celebrated because there is no notebook detailing such. Instead of the N3, 000.00 which the Afikpo High Court was charging for the marriage certificates under Mrs. Ezeali, at Abakaliki High Court, couples pay N10, 000 for the certificate because it comes from Abuja,” the Chief Registrar indicated.

The Chief Registrar said it was unfortunate that the Embassy punished the poor Nwachi adding that after speaking on phone to the court, his wife, Dawna, was asked to come over and a genuine marriage certificate was issued to her since she fulfilled all the legal requirements. Though the couple were given a letter to the Canadian High Commission stating that the fraud was being addressed, they could not budge perhaps on account of the fact that the High Court at Abakaliki did not communicate them directly.

Mrs. Christiana Ezeali’s defense:

Mrs. Ezeali said she celebrated the marriage between Dawna and Nnanna Nwachi in utmost good faith adding that she was exasperated by the discovery of the many defects on the marriage certificate. “It is based on my good faith that I gave the couple a record that it was authentic; on two occasions I had to go to Abakaliki with Mr. Nwachi. The Chief Registrar, Mr. F. Ibiam, under the dispensation of Justice P.O. Elechi, authorised me to celebrate marriages in Afikpo; unknown to me they took away the materials of others like me when Justice Nwankwo became Chief Judge,” Mrs. Ezeali asserted adding that she was asked to reproduce the template after it got finished.

Disciplinary action

For now, Mrs. Ezeali is serving an indefinite suspension. The Chief Registrar, Mrs. Onuorah, said the Chief Judge set up a senior staff disciplinary committee to investigate her, pointing out that she would continue on the suspension until the JSC (Judicial Service Commission) meets to determine the appropriate punishment for her. JSC, it was learnt, sits quarterly unless in cases of emergency or important development. Mrs. Onuorah hinted that the body would hopefully sit before the vacation in August.

E(motional) mail
From Canada came Mrs. Dawna Nwachi’s emotional email saying that she was devastated by the allegations against her husband and the technical fraud in the marriage registry. “(My anguish) is regarding a High Court Registrar in Ebonyi State that has been issuing her own “fraudulent” marriage certificate to people since 2003 instead of acquiring the official marriage certificate booklets from Abuja for this purpose. It is not clear where the fees for these marriage certificates have gone, but hundreds of people are now holding invalid marriage certificates. The issue came to light when my husband went for immigration interview in Ghana and they accused him of producing a fraudulent certificate.”

She added: “We have documentation proving that this official is culpable for this act both in her own words from a letter she wrote to immigration Canada about the situation, and documentation from the Chief Registrar confirming this as well as actions that the Chief Registrar and Chief Justice of Ebonyi State have taken as a result of this.” GUARDIAN

woooowww!!! i comment my reserve.

this guy looks very hungry.

NB pls move thread to travel section