Nigeria’s House of Representatives has asked the United Kingdom to ‘temper justice with mercy’ ahead of the sentencing of Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Justice Jeremy Johnson will pass a sentence on the former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria on May 5, 2023, in a UK court.
In March, the Old Bailey Court in London, UK found Senator Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta guilty of an organ-harvesting plot involving a London NHS hospital.
They were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young man from Lagos for his body part.
Ekweremadus’ 25-year-old daughter Sonia, who was to receive a kidney donation from the trafficking victim, wept as she was cleared of the same charge by the court.
The former Deputy Senate President and his wife were arrested in the UK and charged with trafficking of a 21-year-old street trader from Lagos, for organ harvesting with intent to provide a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
On Tuesday, Toby Okechukwu, a member of the House, made the appeal by drawing attention to what he described as Ekweremadu’s contributions to the Commonwealth of Nations.
He also noted that Ekweremadu’s intentions were to save the life of his sick daughter, Sonia, and not to commit a crime.
He said Ekweremadu had been a source of assistance to many Nigerians in need of help.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, also pleaded for clemency for Ekweremadu, saying he had no prior convictions.
He described Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice as upright citizens and asked the UK court to consider their sick daughter who would still need her parents’ care.
The federal lawmakers urged the Nigerian government to intervene, saying there should be back channels for diplomatic intervention.
The House made the resolution on Tuesday after adopting a motion sponsored by Okechukwu, a lawmaker from Enugu.
In April, former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to the UK court pleading for clemency for Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice.
This was stated in a leaked letter dated April 3, 2023, and addressed to the Chief Clerk of the Court, titled ‘Re: Ike Ekweremadu.
Obasanjo stated that while the Enugu West Senator’s action was condemnable and unacceptable, he had contributed his quota to Nigeria’s socio-political development, and thus his punishment should take into account his past records of good deeds and the plight of his ailing daughter.
The statement read in part, “My dear Chief Clerk, may I seize this opportunity to commend your utmost dedication and resourcefulness which you have demonstrated with rare qualities of commitment and courage, while also upholding the cherished traditions of the Public Service. I am Olusegun Obasanjo, a soldier commissioned into the British Army of the West African Frontier Force in 1958, and rose to the rank of a full General in the Nigerian Army. I received the surrender of the Biafran Army at the end of the Nigerian civil war. I was military Head of State from 1976 to 1979 and elected President from 1999 to 2007.
“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 civilized society.
“However, it is my fervent desire that for the 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 an 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,” the statement added. (SaharaReporters)
