The Federal Government has initiated high-level diplomatic efforts to explore the repatriation of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, currently serving a nine-year sentence in the United Kingdom for organ trafficking.
A Nigerian delegation, led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Maitama Tuggar and Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, travelled to London on Monday to engage British authorities.
The team held discussions at the UK Ministry of Justice before meeting with Nigerian diplomats at the High Commission, where Acting High Commissioner Mohammed Maidugu received them.
Sources close to the negotiations indicated that President Bola Tinubu is personally invested in seeking either an early release for Ekweremadu or a reassessment of his sentence based on humanitarian and legal considerations.
“Efforts are underway to explore a prisoner transfer that would allow him to complete his sentence in Nigeria,” a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Daily Trust. “Talks with the UK authorities are ongoing and constructive.”
Ekweremadu, a three-time Deputy Senate President, was convicted at London’s Old Bailey in March 2023 alongside his wife, Beatrice, and medical practitioner Obinna Obeta.
They were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man, David Nwamini, by harvesting his kidney to save Ekweremadu’s ailing daughter.
He received a sentence of nine years and eight months, prompting the Nigerian government to now pursue diplomatic channels for his possible return.