President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dispatched a high-level Nigerian delegation to the United Kingdom to engage with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice regarding the case of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who has been imprisoned in the UK since March 2023.
The delegation is led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Ekweremadu, alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a UK-based doctor, Obinna Obeta, was arrested in June 2022 at Heathrow Airport for allegedly conspiring to traffic a young Nigerian man to the UK for organ harvesting to save their ailing daughter.
In March 2023, a UK court found the trio guilty under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 — the first conviction of its kind involving organ trafficking. Justice Jeremy Johnson, who presided over the case, described the crime as one that exploited the vulnerability of the victim.
Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, while his wife received four years and six months, and Dr. Obeta ten years.
The case sparked global debate over human trafficking, medical ethics, and diplomatic intervention in criminal convictions involving high-profile individuals.
President Tinubu’s move to initiate diplomatic discussions marks Nigeria’s latest effort to seek possible relief or reconsideration in the former senator’s case.
