President Bola Tinubu has sent a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who has been serving a prison sentence in the United Kingdom since March 2023.
It was gathered that the Federal Government is actively seeking arrangements that would allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.
The delegation, which included the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, on Monday held discussions with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice regarding Ekweremadu’s incarceration.
Following the meeting, the team was received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by the Acting High Commissioner to the UK, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu.
Confirming the development to Arise News on Monday night, the spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alkasim AbdulKadir, said the consultations with UK authorities are ongoing.
He added that a formal request for a prisoner transfer to allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria has been submitted.
He said, “Consultations are still ongoing with UK authorities on the matter.
“An appeal for a prisoner exchange for him to serve the remainder of his term in Nigeria was tabled before the United Kingdom authorities.”
Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022, after a man was falsely presented to a private renal unit at 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.
Ike Ekweremadu was convicted in the UK for his role in organ trafficking after attempting to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street vendor to Britain for a kidney transplant intended for his daughter, Sonia.
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, Ekweremadu was found guilty of organ trafficking by a UK court and was later, in May, sentenced to nine years and eight months under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
His wife, Beatrice, received a four-year and six-month sentence and was released early in 2025, while a medical intermediary, Dr Obinna Obeta, was handed a ten-year prison term.
However, in January, Beatrice was released from prison and returned to Nigeria.
The case drew widespread attention, sparking diplomatic discussions between Nigeria and the UK, exposing gaps in transplant regulations, and prompting further investigations in the UK.
