The Federal Government is considering the possibility of arranging the transfer of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence in a UK prison for organ harvesting.
A Nigerian delegation of high-ranking officials was sent to the United Kingdom on Monday to engage with British authorities.
A delegation that 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 officially received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Credible sources confirm that the meeting was part of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to secure Ekweremadu’s early release or a review of his sentence on humanitarian and legal grounds.
Officials familiar with the talks stated that the Nigerian government is seeking to initiate discussions around possible prisoner-transfer arrangements, compassionate parole, or other relief permitted under UK law.
A top official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confided in KIKI’SBLOG that they are working on an appeal for a prisoner exchange for him to serve the remainder of his term in Nigeria.
Ongoing consultations are taking place 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 received a sentence of nine years and eight months in prison.
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