President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a high-level delegation to London to engage British authorities on the case of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who has been serving a prison sentence in the United Kingdom since March 2023.
According to The Telegraph, the Federal Government is exploring arrangements that could allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.
The delegation—comprising the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi—held talks on Monday with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice over the matter.
Following the meeting, the team visited the Nigerian High Commission in London, where they were received by the Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu.
Confirming the development to Arise News on Monday night, the spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alkasim AbdulKadir, said consultations with UK authorities are ongoing.
He added that a formal request for a prisoner transfer has been submitted to enable Ekweremadu to complete his sentence in Nigeria.
“Consultations are still ongoing with UK authorities on the matter,” AbdulKadir said. “An appeal for a prisoner exchange to allow him to serve the remainder of his term in Nigeria was tabled before the United Kingdom authorities.”
Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after allegedly attempting to procure a kidney transplant for their daughter, Sonia, using a 21-year-old Lagos street vendor who was falsely presented as her cousin.
In March 2023, a UK court convicted Ekweremadu under the Modern Slavery Act for conspiring to arrange the travel of another person for organ harvesting. He was sentenced in May 2023 to nine years and eight months in prison. His wife received a four-year, six-month sentence, while their associate, medical doctor Obinna Obeta, was sentenced to ten years.
Beatrice Ekweremadu was released early in January 2025 and has since returned to Nigeria.
The case has drawn significant diplomatic attention, highlighting legal and ethical challenges in organ donation and prompting discussions between the Nigerian and UK governments over prisoner transfer arrangements.
