LONDON, England — The United Kingdom has declined a request by the Nigerian government to allow former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in Nigeria, according to a report by the UK Guardian.
Ekweremadu is serving a nine-year, eight-month sentence in the UK following his conviction in March 2023 for conspiring to procure a young man’s kidney for an £80,000 transplant intended for his daughter, Sonia.
The case, investigated by the London Metropolitan Police, marked the first conviction of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
In early November, President Bola Tinubu dispatched a high-level delegation to London to discuss Ekweremadu’s case and explore the possibility of a cross-border prisoner transfer.
The delegation included Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar and Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi.
However, the UK Guardian, citing an unnamed official of the Ministry of Justice, reported that the request was turned down over concerns that Nigeria could not provide assurances that Ekweremadu would continue serving his sentence if returned.
“A source at the MoJ has confirmed the request was rejected. It is understood the UK government was concerned that Nigeria could offer no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported,” the newspaper reported.
The official added that “any prisoner transfer is at our discretion following a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice,” and stressed, “The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”
Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Obinna Obeta, a medical doctor, were arrested in June 2022 after a 21-year-old man reported to the police that he had been brought to the UK under false pretences for an organ transplant.
Prosecutors said he had been misrepresented as a cousin to Sonia in documents submitted to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital, London.
The man said he had been promised work in the UK, only to discover the real purpose of the trip was to facilitate a kidney donation.
He contacted authorities in May 2022, prompting the investigation that led to the arrests and subsequent trial.
In May 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.
Beatrice received a four-year, six-month sentence, while Obeta was handed a 10-year term.
The trial judge, Jeremy Johnson, ruled that Beatrice should serve half her sentence in custody and spend the remainder on licence.
In January, Beatrice was released from prison and returned to Nigeria, in line with the conditions set by the court.
The UK’s decision effectively closes the door on Nigeria’s latest diplomatic effort to secure a domestic transfer for the former lawmaker, who remains incarcerated in Britain under the terms of his conviction.
