The PUNCH reports that a 42-year-old Lebanese, Rami El Masri, has been charged to court for allegedly forging a letter of Nigerian citizenship confirmation and parading himself as a Nigerian.
Masri, who was said to own two construction companies along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, was on Thursday arraigned before a Lagos State Magistrate’s Court in Igbosere
The three counts pressed against him by the police bordered on conspiracy, forgery and uttering of false documents.
The foreigner was accused of falsely and fraudulently presenting himself as a Nigerian citizen by birth, an act the police said was contrary to and punishable under sections 363 (3)(4)(O), 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.
The police prosecutor, Susan Ezema, told the court that Masri and others who were still at large committed the alleged offences between December 15, 2008 and November 19, 2014.
But upon reading the charges to him before a court presided over by Mrs Joy Ugbomiko, Masri pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
He was subsequently admitted to a N200,000 bail with two sureties in like.
The case was adjourned till June 16, 2016 for mention.