The United Kingdom has rejected the Nigerian government’s request to transfer former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu back to Nigeria to complete his prison sentence.
Ekweremadu was jailed in 2023 after being convicted for plotting to harvest the kidney of a young man, receiving a nine-year, eight-month sentence — one of the most widely reported organ-trafficking cases involving a Nigerian public official.
A Nigerian delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar recently met with UK Ministry of Justice officials to negotiate his return. The request asked that he be deported so he could serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.
According to The Guardian UK, the British authorities declined. A source said the UK does not believe Nigeria can guarantee that Ekweremadu would continue serving his sentence if transferred. The Ministry of Justice maintained that the UK takes modern slavery crimes seriously and offenders must face the full weight of British law.
With the request denied, Ekweremadu will remain in a UK prison until the end of his term. There is no sign that another appeal will be considered.
His wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, who was also convicted and sentenced to four and a half years, served half of her term and was released earlier this year. She has since returned to Nigeria.
