Updated: Escaping migrants carried passports saying 'State of Sabotage'

Three migrants who tried to escape from Malta illegally used fake passports whose quality was so poor, they were not even considered by the police as being a forgery, a court was told on Sunday evening.

Police Inspector Mario Haber said the so-called passports did not even carry pictures of the men, but of other people.

And they carried the words: Issued by the State of Sabotage and 'Government of World Citizens'

The migrants, Mustafa Sarim, 20, from Burkina Faso and John Bull Ibrahim, 23 and Christian Obice, 21, both Nigerian, were each jailed for two months after admitting to trying to leave Malta illegally without proper documentation.

Earlier, a Nigerian man, Michael Chileno Okechukwu Ama Obi, was remanded in custody after having been accused of helping migrants escape from Malta by boarding the catamaran to Sicily.

Ama Obi, who is married to a Maltese woman, pleaded not guilty.

Another migrant, Promise Ndubueze, 30 of Nigeria was jailed for a month for escaping from the Safi Detention Centre.