FG begins talks with UK to transfer Senator Ike Ekweremadu to Nigeria

The Federal Government has initiated talks with the United Kingdom to secure the transfer of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence for organ harvesting.

A delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice in London on Monday to explore options for the lawmaker’s return to Nigeria. The team later visited the Nigerian High Commission in London, where they were received by the Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu.

Sources close to the discussions revealed that the move is part of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to obtain either an early release or a review of Ekweremadu’s sentence on humanitarian and legal grounds. The delegation reportedly discussed potential prisoner-transfer agreements, compassionate parole, or any other relief mechanisms permitted under British law.

“We are working on an appeal for a prisoner exchange that would allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria,” a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, noting that consultations with UK authorities are ongoing.

Ekweremadu, a three-term Deputy Senate President, was convicted by the Old Bailey in March 2023 alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta. The court found them guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man, David Nwamini, for the removal of his kidney intended for the treatment of Ekweremadu’s ailing daughter. He is currently serving a nine-year, eight-month sentence in a UK prison.