The federal government is currently on consultation with the United Kingdom government to get former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu released to serve his remaining jail term in Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu had sent a high-level delegation to meet with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss the case of the imprisoned Senator.
Ike Ekweremadu, was convicted in the UK for organ trafficking after a plot to bring a 21‑year‑old Lagos street vendor to Britain for a kidney transplant for his daughter, Sonia. He was sentenced to nine years and eight months under the UK Modern Slavery Act in May 2023 and remains in prison, while his wife Beatrice received four years and six months and was released early in 2025. A medical middleman, Dr Obinna Obeta, got ten years.
The case sparked Nigerian‑UK diplomatic talks, highlighted gaps in transplant regulation, and led to new investigations in the UK. Ekweremadu’s family says his daughter’s kidney disease drove the desperate act, but courts stressed informed consent and ethical alternatives were ignored.
Confirming the move by Nigerian government, the spokesman of Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alkasim AbdulKadir told our correspondent that: “Consultations still ongoing with UK authorities on the matter.”
He explained that: “An appeal for Prisoner exchange for him to serve the remainder of his term In Nigeria” was tabled before the United Kingdom authorities.
It was gathered that the delegation which included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Adegbite met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss the case of the imprisoned former Senator .
The delegation was later received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu.
Michael Olugbode
