The United Kingdom has rejected Nigeria’s request to allow former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to finish his prison sentence in Nigeria, officials have confirmed.
Ekweremadu, 63, was convicted in 2023 in the UK for conspiring to exploit a young man in order to harvest a kidney for his daughter. Prosecutors said his wife, Beatrice, and a co-conspirator, Dr. Obinna Obeta, arranged for the man to be trafficked to London under false pretenses. They claimed he was a cousin and had consented to the transplant, for which he was paid £80,000. The transplant was to take place at a private NHS hospital.
Following his conviction, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in the UK.
In a recent diplomatic effort, a Nigerian delegation led by the Foreign Affairs Minister visited the UK Ministry of Justice to negotiate his transfer. However, UK officials declined the request, citing concerns about whether Nigeria would uphold the remaining portion of the sentence once Ekweremadu was deported.
According to the UK’s judgment, there was an “absence of guarantees” that he would complete his term if returned to Nigeria. One source reportedly stressed that the UK would not tolerate any form of “modern slavery” and asserted that offenders must face the full force of British law.
With the refusal upheld, Ekweremadu will remain incarcerated in the UK unless future legal or diplomatic changes occur.
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