‘I’m not the person’: Man says gardaí mixed him up with one of his nine identical brothers

Tom Tuite

A Nigerian national accused of trying to obstruct his deportation when brought to Dublin Airport claims it is a case of mistaken identity and gardaí mixed him up with one of his nine identical brothers.

Alleged "decuplet", Sam Okwuoha, 28, was brought before Judge Karen Dowling at Dublin District Court on Monday, following a Garda National Immigration Bureau investigation.

He is charged with a single offence contrary to section 8 (1) (a), (2) and 9 of the Immigration Act 1999 and was refused bail.

According to court documents he is accused that on March 6th at Dublin Airport, "being a person in respect of whom a deportation order was signed on 06.01.2026 under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 by the Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, did obstruct or hinder a person authorised by the said Minister namely Detective Garda Graham Dillon to deport you from the State pursuant to the order while the said person was engaged in such deportation."

Det Garda Dillon said that the accused, who had previously lived in Dublin, replied "I am not the person" when the charge was put to him on Tuesday morning.

Opposing bail, he added that he had a "lengthy list" of objections, adding that "we attempted to deport this man and he obstructed the deportation".

Defence counsel Paddy Flynn told Judge Dowling that his client was seeking bail and maintained that he was not the person named in the charge.

Det Garda Dillon countered, "We are 100 per cent confident," adding that it had been confirmed by legitimate authorities.

Okwuoha did not require an interpreter and spoke only during the bail hearing to instruct his barrister, who informed the court that his client maintained to be "one of decuplets", a rare occurrence in which 10 children are born from the same pregnancy.

Flynn informed the judge that Okwuoha had identical brothers and that he "swapped places with his brother and came to Ireland".

The detective told the court he believed Okwuoha would not appear in court if granted bail, and that he had a bench warrant history for failing to attend proceedings in the State and for "giving different names, using different dates of birth and identities".

The alleged offence is punishable by a fine and a maximum 12-month prison sentence.

Judge Dowling stressed that Okwuoha, who has yet to enter a plea formally, has the presumption of innocence; however, she held that the GNIB detective's evidence reached the threshold to refuse bail.

He was remanded in custody to appear again on Friday.