The United Kingdom has rejected the Federal Government of Nigeria’s request to have former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, transferred home to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.
Ekweremadu is currently in a UK prison after being convicted of organ trafficking in March 2023. He was handed a nine-year, eight-month jail term for conspiring to exploit a young man’s kidney for a transplant procedure.
Earlier in November, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent a high-level delegation to London to explore the possibility of a prisoner transfer. The team—led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar and Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi—held discussions with British authorities on the matter.
However, according to a report by The UK Guardian, which cited an unnamed official of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the request was turned down.
“A source at the MoJ has confirmed the request was rejected. It is understood the UK government was concerned that Nigeria could offer no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported,” the outlet reported.
The UK official added that all prisoner-transfer applications undergo strict scrutiny:
“Any prisoner transfer is at our discretion after a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice. The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”
Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and their associate, medical doctor Obinna Obeta, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police in June 2022. Investigators alleged that a 21-year-old man was recruited and falsely presented as a cousin of the senator’s daughter, Sonia, at the Royal Free Hospital in London for an £80,000 kidney transplant.
The young man later reported the incident to UK authorities, stating he had been promised work when he arrived in the country.
In March 2023, a UK court convicted the trio under the Modern Slavery Act, marking the first conviction for organ trafficking under the law.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison. His wife received four years and six months, while Dr. Obeta was sentenced to 10 years. The judge ordered that Beatrice serve half of her term in custody and the remainder on licence.
She was released in January 2024 and has since returned to Nigeria.
