President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dispatched a high-powered delegation to the United Kingdom to explore the possibility of transferring former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu—currently serving a prison sentence in London—to Nigeria.
The delegation, which includes Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, arrived in London on Monday.
The officials met with representatives of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss potential avenues for Ekweremadu to complete the remainder of his sentence on Nigerian soil.
Speaking to Newsmen on Tuesday, Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, confirmed that the visit was part of ongoing diplomatic consultations regarding the former lawmaker’s case.
Background: The Ekweremadu Case
Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after a 21-year-old man reported that he had been taken to the UK for an organ transplant under false pretenses.
The individual, who was allegedly promised employment opportunities in the UK, was presented to a private renal unit at the Royal Free Hospital as a relative of the couple’s daughter, Sonia—an assertion later found to be untrue.
In March 2023, a UK court found Ekweremadu, his wife, and Dr. Obinna Obeta guilty of organ trafficking, marking the first conviction of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison. Beatrice received four years and six months, while Dr. Obeta was handed a 10-year sentence.
Justice Jeremy Johnson ruled that Beatrice would serve half her sentence in custody and the remainder on licence.
In January 2024, Beatrice Ekweremadu was released from prison and returned to Nigeria.
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