*The UK Government turns down Nigeria鈥檚 formal request for repatriation of Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, former Deputy President of the Senate

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

Following a recent move for his repatriation to Nigeria for his continued jail term in the West African country, the United Kingdom (UK) Government has turned down the country鈥檚 formal request to deport Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, ex-Deputy President of the Senate.

绿帽献妻 reports Ekweremadu is currently serving a prison term in the United Kingdom for organ trafficking.

The jailed former Deputy Senate President, 63, was imprisoned for nine years and eight months 2023 after a UK court found him, his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man to exchange his kidney for money.

The kidney was intended for their daughter, Sonia, in a private London hospital at the time.

Ekweremadu鈥檚 conviction was the first under the UK鈥檚 Modern Slavery Act for organ trafficking, The Guardian UK report said.

Recently, a Nigerian delegation, led by Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, 聽Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs, had met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice to request that Ekweremadu be transferred home to serve the remainder of his sentence.

A UK Ministry of Justice source, however, reportedly said the request was rejected over concerns that Nigeria could not guarantee Ekweremadu would continue to serve his sentence after return home.

The UK Government further said it could not comment on specific prisoners but stressed that any transfer 鈥渋s at our discretion following a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice,鈥� report noted.

Still, another UK Government source told the newspaper that 鈥渢he UK will not tolerate modern slavery, and any offender will face the full force of UK law.鈥�

Beatrice Ekweremadu, who was sentenced to four years and six months, has since been released after serving half of her term, and she is back in Nigeria.

It is recalled that during sentencing, Justice Jeremy Johnson described the trio鈥檚 actions as part of a 鈥渄espicable trade.鈥�

Justice Johnson stated: 鈥淭he harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery. It treats human beings and their bodies as commodities to be bought and sold.鈥�

The Judge also described Ekweremadu as the 鈥渄riving force鈥� behind the plot, noting that the case marked a 鈥渟ubstantial fall from grace.鈥�

In February 2022, the victim, identified in court as C, was taken to a private renal unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London for a proposed 拢80,000 transplant.

The Nigerian young man was falsely presented as Sonia鈥檚 鈥渃ousin鈥�, who had volunteered to donate his kidney.

Despite an attempt to bribe a medical secretary, the hospital rejected the procedure in March 2022 but did not report it to the police.

The plot came to light only when the victim fled and sought help, saying he feared being taken to Nigeria for another attempt.

Obeta had earlier received a kidney transplant at the same hospital in 2021 from another allegedly trafficked donor.

He is serving a 10-year sentence, two-thirds of which must be spent in custody.

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