Organ harvesting: Obasanjo writes UK court, pleads for Ekweremadu
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to a UK court that former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice are guilty of organ trafficking.
In a letter to the CEO of the Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court, the former president asked the secretary to intervene and ensure that the British government does merciful justice in the case.
PUNCH reports that Ekweremadu is facing 10 years in prison under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act after a London court found him and his wife guilty of organ trafficking. Following Judge Johnson’s guilty plea, Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested and await trial on May 5.
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The Ekweremadus were arrested and in the custody of British authorities after receiving complaints from a young man about their alleged plans to harvest his organs.
But Obasanjo, in a letter dated April 3, 2023, said Ekweremadu had learned from the ordeal and called on the court and the British government to show mercy.
The letter read in part: “Mr. Secretary General, I am well aware of the current sufferings and convictions of Ike Ekweremada and his wife in the UK for conspiring to arrange for a 21-year-old to travel from Nigeria to the UK to harvest organs for his 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.”
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