Pamela Izevbekhai

RTÉ was "duped" by a "fake doctor" who said he treated the child of Nigerian woman Pamela Izevbekhai – who claims her daughter died as a result of female genital mutilation (FGM) – government sources claim.


A detective inspector from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), as well as government officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Justice, travelled to Lagos, Nigeria, two weeks ago and interviewed Dr Joseph Unokanjo, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Isloma hospital in Lagos.


Pamela Izevbekhai (below)?had given Irish authorities a death certificate for her daughter Elizabeth which was signed by Dr Joseph Uno­kanjo. However, he told the senior garda and government officials two weeks ago that it was a forgery. The doctor signed an affidavit – which will now be used in court – which says no baby called Elizabeth Izevbekhai was delivered by him, and that no such baby died of injuries sustained during FGM.


This statement contradicts supposed interviews with Dr Unokanjo on two Irish radio stations in 2005 and 2007 in which he said he had delivered the child and also had treated her a year later when she died from complications of genital mutilation.


The first interview, conducted by RTÉ reporter Philip Boucher-Hayes, was broadcast in 2005 and repeated on RTÉ radio last week. The second interview, with Sligo-based radio station Ocean FM, took place in January 2007. But the government officials and garda who met Unokanjo at his workplace have listened back to the RTÉ telephone interview with the doctor and are adamant it is not the same person.


"The real Dr Unokanjo is willing to come over to Ireland and testify to this. Can RTÉ get their doctor over to defend himself?" said the source.


"The journalists were given a phone number for a doctor in Nigeria claiming to be Dr Unokanjo. They never met this man – our officials and the senior garda did."


Izevbekhai has sought asylum in Ireland since 2005 on the grounds that her two daughters, Naomi and Jemima, were in danger of being forced to undergo FGM by her husband's family. However, her application was refused, and judicial review proceedings challenging the refusal were unsuccessful. Separate to her case in the European Court of Human Rights, she had sought subsidiary protection in Ireland under EU law. She was unsuccessful, and is now appealing that case to the Supreme Court. The state is seeking to have her appeal struck out as an abuse of process, citing the affidavit from Unokanjo. This has now been lodged with the European Court of Human Rights.


RTÉ recently filmed a Would You Believe special on Izevbekhai, scheduled for next Sunday.


RTÉ and Izevbekhai were unavailable to comment.