President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dispatched a high-level delegation to London to discuss the possible transfer of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who has been serving a jail term in the United Kingdom since March 2023.
The delegation includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
According to reliable sources, the delegation arrived in London on Monday and met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to deliberate on the matter.
Confirming the visit, Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson to the foreign affairs minister, told TheCable on Tuesday that the presidential delegation was consulting with UK authorities to explore the possibility of Ekweremadu completing his prison sentence in Nigeria.
The Ekweremadu Case
Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after allegedly attempting to procure an organ transplant for their ailing daughter, Sonia, using a 21-year-old man who was falsely presented as her cousin.
The man later reported to the police that he had been brought to the UK under the pretext of being offered work, only to discover he was expected to donate an organ.
In March 2023, a UK court found Ekweremadu, his wife, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, guilty of organ trafficking — the first conviction of its kind under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, while Beatrice received four years and six months, and Obeta was handed a 10-year sentence.
Justice Jeremy Johnson, who presided over the case, ordered that Beatrice serve half of her term in custody and the remainder under licence.
She was eventually released in January 2025 and has since returned to Nigeria.
