The United Kingdom has rejected a request by the Federal Government of Nigeria to repatriate former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who is serving a prison sentence in Britain for organ trafficking.
Ekweremadu, 63, was in 2023 sentenced to nine years and eight months after being convicted of conspiring to exploit a young man by arranging to harvest his kidney for a transplant for his ailing daughter, Sonia.
His wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were also convicted in the landmark case — the first organ-trafficking prosecution under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act.
According to The Guardian, a Nigerian delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, met officials of the UK Ministry of Justice last week to request that Ekweremadu be allowed to return to Nigeria to complete his sentence.
However, a Ministry of Justice source told The Guardian that the request was turned down over concerns that Nigeria could not guarantee he would continue serving his term if transferred.
A UK government spokesperson, without commenting directly on the case, said prisoner transfers are approved only when they align with the “interests of justice.”
Another official reaffirmed the country’s zero tolerance for modern slavery.
Any prisoner transfer is at our discretion following a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice,” one source was quoted as saying.
Another added, “The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”
During sentencing, Justice Jeremy Johnson described the trio’s actions as part of a “despicable trade.”
He said, “The harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery. It treats human beings and their bodies as commodities to be bought and sold.”
He called Ekweremadu the “driving force” behind the plot, noting that the case marked a “substantial fall from grace.”
In February 2022, the victim, identified in court as C, was taken to a private renal unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London for a proposed £80,000 transplant.
He was falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin who had volunteered to donate his kidney.
Despite an attempt to bribe a medical secretary, the hospital rejected the procedure in March 2022 but did not report it to the police.
The plot came to light only when the victim fled and sought help, saying he feared being taken to Nigeria for another attempt.
Obeta had earlier received a kidney transplant at the same hospital in 2021 from another allegedly trafficked donor.
He is serving a 10-year sentence, two-thirds of which must be spent in custody.
Nigeria’s attempt to secure Ekweremadu’s return sparked criticism among Nigerians.
