In his statement, Abidemi has said that his passport was arranged for him by an agent in Lagos, Nigeria. He apparently paid the agent 8,000 Naira (Nigerian currency) and was to pay an additional 3,000 US Dollars on arrival at Toronto. In the passport, the photograph had been substituted and there were no official watermarks, apart from other technical discrepancies. The date of issue stamped on the passport is March 1, 1990.

Abidemi landed in Mumbai on April 11, hoping to meet a friend. ``I spoke to my friend from Sierra Leone and he said that he was working in Mumbai,'' Abidemi says. ``But when I reached Mumbai, I couldn't find him. He wasn't there and I looked in a lot of places. Then I bought a ticket for Delhi.''

According to Abidemi's statement, he took a Jet Airlines flight from Mumbai and has been in the Capital for eight days now. Travelling to Toronto via London, Abidemi says his ticket for the last leg of his journey had also been arranged by the agent. ``He told me that he had booked the ticket and that I should go and collect it from the airlines office,'' Abidemi says. ``I was scheduled to take a flight to Toronto via Seoul, but since they didn't have seats, they gave me London-Toronto instead.''

The ``war'' in his country apparently prompted the 21-year-old to travel to Mumbai. His friend had told him about the ``great job he had'' and promised him some money. Abidemi decided to travel the world and for doing that he needed a passport.

``I was walking down the street in Lagos where people say they will arrange a passport and visa for you,'' Abidemi told the police. ``I asked one man about how much it would cost and he took me aside and explained the deal. I don't know his name or address. All I know is that he got me the relevant documents to travel.''

The police are also probing the angle whether the Nigerian travel agent involved in the case has an Indian counterpart also. Since Abidemi claims that his ticket Delhi onwards was booked in advance, officials are checking how the booking was done.