Tinubu sends high-level delegation to London over Ekweremadu’s imprisonment

President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of Ike Ekweremadu, the former deputy senate president, who has been imprisoned in the United Kingdom since March 2023.

The delegation includes Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

The team arrived in London on Monday and met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice.

Speaking to TheCable on Tuesday, Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, said the presidential delegation was in London “to consult with the UK authorities to explore possibilities of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his prison term in Nigeria.”

The Ekweremadus were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after a man was falsely presented to a private renal unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London as a cousin to their daughter, Sonia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to persuade medics to carry out an £80,000 transplant.

The 21-year-old man, who was allegedly promised work in the UK, reported the matter to the police in May of the same year, stating that he was brought to the country for an organ transplant.

In March 2023, the former presiding officer of Nigeria’s Red Chamber was found guilty of organ trafficking by a UK court.

Beatrice, his wife, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor involved in the case, were also found guilty. It was the first verdict of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.

On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife to four years and six months, while Obeta received a 10-year prison term.

In his judgment, Jeremy Johnson, the trial judge, ruled that Beatrice should spend half of her sentence in custody and serve the remainder on licence.

However, in January, Beatrice was released from prison and returned to Nigeria.