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.”