UK rejects Nigeria’s request to transfer Ekweremadu, insists he must serve full jail term

UK rejects Nigeria’s request to transfer Ekweremadu, insists he must serve full jail term

The government of the United Kingdom has rejected a request by the Federal Government of Nigeria to allow former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to complete his prison sentence in Nigeria.

Ekweremadu, who is serving a nine-year, eight-month sentence for organ trafficking, was convicted in March 2023 under the UK Modern Slavery Act for conspiring to harvest a young man’s kidney for transplant.

Earlier in November, President Bola Tinubu dispatched a high-level delegation to London — including Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar and Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi — to negotiate Ekweremadu’s transfer under international prisoner exchange arrangements.

However, the UK Guardian, quoting an official of the UK Ministry of Justice, reported that the request was declined. According to the unnamed official, the UK was not convinced that Nigeria could guarantee that the former lawmaker would continue serving his UK prison sentence if repatriated.

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The official said prisoner transfer decisions are made only when they serve the interests of justice, stressing that the UK “will not tolerate modern slavery, and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”

Ekweremadu’s legal troubles began in June 2022 when he, his wife Beatrice, and a Nigerian doctor, Obinna Obeta, were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police for allegedly trafficking a 21-year-old man to the UK for an £80,000 kidney transplant intended for their daughter, Sonia.

Prosecutors said the young man was falsely presented as Ekweremadu’s cousin and was promised work in the UK. He later reported to the police that he had been deceived.

In March 2023, a UK court convicted the trio for organ trafficking, marking the first conviction of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act. Ekweremadu received a sentence of nine years and eight months, his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, while Obeta received 10 years.

Beatrice was ordered to serve half her term in custody and the rest on licence. She was released in January and has since returned to Nigeria.

The UK government insists Ekweremadu will remain in custody and continue serving his full sentence in Britain.

UK rejects Nigeria’s request to transfer Ekweremadu, insists he must serve full jail term