Emanuel Van Koko was yesterday ordered to pay a fine of $60,000 and then deported to Nigeria since he had entered Guyana illegally and had falsely presented himself as someone else to the officers at the Central Immigration and Passport Office to obtain a Guyana passport.
The Nigerian librarian pleaded guilty to the charges of illegal entry into Guyana and making a false declaration to procure a new passport when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
He admitted that on May 20, at Springlands, Corentyne River, he entered Guyana illegally without presenting himself to an immigration officer.
He also admitted that on May 21 at the Passport Office he presented himself as Nelson Gladstone in order to procure a Guyana passport.
Van Koko stated that he came to Guyana through the “backtrack” from Suriname since he never obtained a visa to travel here legally. He said he met a man in Suriname who promised to assist him in obtaining a Guyana passport but that never happened so he went to the Passport Office to get it himself, and was arrested instead.
Prosecutor Stephen Telford requested that Van Koko be deported back to his country.
The magistrate then fined Van Koko and told him if he failed to pay the fine he would spend the next 12 months in prison and then be deported to Nigeria.
