…Says Britain “will not tolerate modern slavery”
By Philomina Brando
The United Kingdom has rejected a formal request by the Nigerian government to deport former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who is serving a prison sentence for organ trafficking.
Ekweremadu, 63, was sentenced in 2023 to nine years and eight months for conspiring to traffic a young Nigerian man to London for the purpose of harvesting his kidney for his ailing daughter, Sonia. His wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were also convicted in what became the UK’s first organ-trafficking case under the Modern Slavery Act.
A Nigerian government delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar met officials of the UK Ministry of Justice last week to request Ekweremadu’s transfer to Nigeria to serve the remainder of his sentence. However, a senior UK justice source confirmed that the request was turned down, citing concerns that Nigeria could not provide firm guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue serving his jail term if deported.
The UK government declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but a spokesperson said all prisoner-transfer decisions were discretionary and must align with the “interests of justice”. Another official insisted: “The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”
Ekweremadu, once one of Nigeria’s most prominent politicians and an ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was described by the trial judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, as the “driving force” behind a plot that amounted to a “despicable trade”. The judge said the crime represented “a very substantial fall from grace”.
The trial revealed that the victim, identified as C, was brought to London in February 2022 under the false claim that he was a cousin willing to donate a kidney for £80,000. The Royal Free Hospital rejected the transplant after concerns about consent, but the incident was not immediately reported to police. The plot was uncovered only when the victim fled in fear for his life.
Beatrice Ekweremadu, who received a four-and-a-half-year sentence, has already returned to Nigeria after serving half her term. Obeta, who earlier benefited from a similar transplant at the same hospital in 2021 from another alleged trafficking victim, is serving a 10-year sentence.
Nigeria’s attempt to secure Ekweremadu’s transfer has drawn sharp criticism at home and revived questions over why Abuja has not intervened on behalf of more than 230 Nigerians currently imprisoned in the UK.
The Nigerian High Commission in London has yet to comment on the development.