The United Kingdom has refused a request from the Nigerian government to repatriate former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently serving a prison term in the UK for organ-trafficking offences.
Ekweremadu, 63, was sentenced in 2023 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 intended for his daughter, Sonia.
His wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were also convicted in the first organ-trafficking case prosecuted under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act.
According to a report by The Guardian (UK), a Nigerian delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice last week to request that Ekweremadu be allowed to complete his sentence in Nigeria.
A Ministry of Justice source, however, said the request was rejected due to concerns that Nigeria could not guarantee he would continue serving his sentence if transferred.
While not addressing the case directly, a UK government spokesperson reiterated that prisoner transfers are approved only when they serve the “interests of justice.”
Another official stressed the UK’s firm stance against modern slavery, noting that offenders must face the full consequences of British law.
During sentencing, Justice Jeremy Johnson described the group’s actions as part of a “despicable trade,” emphasizing that organ harvesting reduces human beings to mere commodities.
He said Ekweremadu acted as the “driving force” behind the scheme, calling the episode a significant fall from grace.
The court heard that in February 2022, the victim identified only as C was taken to a private renal unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London for a proposed £80,000 transplant. He had been falsely presented as Sonia Ekweremadu’s cousin who had volunteered to donate his kidney.
Although the hospital declined to perform the procedure in March 2022 despite an attempted bribe of a medical secretary it did not immediately alert the police. The case came to light only after the victim fled, reporting that he feared he would be taken to Nigeria for another transplant attempt.
Obeta, who previously received a kidney transplant at the same hospital in 2021 from another allegedly trafficked donor, is serving a 10-year sentence, two-thirds of which must be spent in custody.
Nigeria’s effort to bring Ekweremadu home has sparked mixed reactions among Nigerians.
The PUNCH has not independently verified The Guardian’s report, and Nigeria’s High Commission in London had not issued a comment at the time this report was filed.
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