Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to a UK court that has found former Vice President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice guilty of organ trafficking.
In a letter to the Chief Registrar, Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London, the former President called on the Registrar’s Office to intervene and ensure that the UK Government will handle justice in a fair manner. benevolent in this regard.
According to reports, Ekweremadu is facing a 10-year prison sentence under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 after a London court found him and his wife guilty of organ trafficking.
Following Judge Johnson’s guilty verdict, Ekweremadu and his wife were remanded in custody pending sentencing on May 5.
Ekweremadus was arrested by British authorities after receiving complaints from young people about their alleged organ harvesting scheme. However, Obasanjo, in his letter dated April 3, 2023, said the Ekweremadus had learned their lesson from the ordeal and called on the UK courts and government to show leniency.
The letter read in part,
“Mr. Chief Clerk, I am very much aware of the current travails and conviction of Ike Ekweremadu and his wife in the United Kingdom resulting from their being charged with conspiring to arrange the travel of a 21-year-old from Nigeria to the UK in order to harvest organs for their daughter.
“I do realise the implications of their action and I dare say, it is unpleasant and condemnable and can’t be tolerated in any sane or civilised society.
“However, it is my fervent desire for very warm relations between the United Kingdom and Federal Republic of Nigeria; for his position as one of the distinguished Senators in the Nigerian Parliament, and also for the sake of their daughter in question whose current health condition is in danger and requires urgent medical attention, you will use your good offices to intervene and appeal to the court and the government of the United Kingdom to be magnanimous enough to temper justice with mercy and let punishment that may have to come take their good character and parental instinct and care into consideration.
“I do hope Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadu have learnt from this distressing experience of theirs to guide their future actions or inactions so they will continue to be outstanding members of their community and will continue to contribute fully to the good of the society in particular and the nation in general.”
Details later…
