By Mohammed Taoheed
Nigeria has opened high-level talks with UK officials on the possibility of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, serving the remainder of his prison term in Nigeria.
A delegation from Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu had on Monday met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss his organ-trafficking conviction, for which he has been jailed in the UK since May 2023.
The delegation, comprises the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Mr Tuggar’s spokesperson, Alkasim Abdulkadir on Tuesday told TheCable that the presidential delegation was in London to consult with the UK authorities to explore possibilities of Ekeweremadu serving the remainder of his prison term in Nigeria.
Recall that on May 5, 2023, Mr Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison over an organ trafficking plot involving a 21-year-old Nigerian whom he allegedly flew to the UK with the intention to harvest his kidney for his sick daughter.
Many people had pleaded for leniency from the British court ahead of his sentencing. Concerned Nigerians both at home and abroad had appealed for mercy on his behalf. The speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Sidie Tunis, had appealed to the UK authorities to show leniency to Mr Ekweremadu, having served as speaker of the ECOWAS parliament between 2011 and 2015.
The former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian lawmakers, and the chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewaa among other well-meaning Nigerians all pleaded for leniency for Mr Ekweremadu.
Mr Ekweremadu, a successful lawyer is the founder of an anti-poverty charity who helped draw up Nigeria’s laws against organ trafficking.
Backstory
In June 2022, Mr Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu were arrested in London, and charged with organ harvesting following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team. A medical doctor, Obinna Obeta was also involved in the conspiracy.
A statement from the Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed that Sonia was suffering from deteriorating kidneys and needed regular dialysis.
The victim, a 21-year-old Nigerian trader, was falsely presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free hospital in London as a cousin to their daughter, Ms Sonia, after being offered a monetary reward and the promise of work in the UK.
Following a report to the police by the victim in May 2022, Mr Ekweremadu was found guilty of organ trafficking by a UK court in March 2023. While he was sentenced to nine years, eight months in prison on 5 May 2023, his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, while Mr Obeta was handed a 10-year prison term.
It was said to be the first verdict of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
The judge, Jeremy Johnson, ruled that Mrs Ekweremadu should serve half of her sentence in custody and spend the remainder on licence. She was released from prison in January this year and has since returned to Nigeria.
