The Federal Government is exploring the possibility of securing the transfer of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a UK prison for organ harvesting.
A high-level delegation from Nigeria was dispatched to the United Kingdom on Monday to engage British authorities.
The delegation, which met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice in London earlier on Monday, included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The team was later received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
According to credible sources, the meeting formed part of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to secure either Ekweremadu’s early release or a review of his sentence on humanitarian and legal grounds.
Officials familiar with the talks said the Nigerian government is seeking to open discussions around possible prisoner-transfer arrangements, compassionate parole, or other relief permitted under UK law.
“We are working on an appeal for a prisoner exchange for him to serve the remainder of his term in Nigeria,” a top official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confided in Daily Trust.
“Consultations is still ongoing with the UK authorities,” he added.
Ekweremadu, a veteran lawmaker and three-time Deputy President of the Senate, was convicted at the Old Bailey in March 2023 alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta.
They were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man, David Nwamini, for the removal of his kidney to treat Ekweremadu’s ailing daughter.
He was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.
(Daily Trust)
