The UK has rejected Nigeria’s request to deport former Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu, convicted of organ trafficking, to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.
The UK government has denied Nigeria’s request to deport Ike Ekweremadu, the former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, who is serving a nine-year, eight-month prison sentence for conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney.
A UK Ministry of Justice source stated that deportation was refused due to concerns that “Nigeria could offer no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported.” During sentencing, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson described the scheme as “a despicable trade” and said: “The harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery. It treats human beings and their bodies as commodities to be bought and sold.”
Ekweremadu, along with his wife Beatrice and co-conspirator Dr Obinna Obeta, attempted to traffic a young man to London for an organ transplant for their daughter Sonia. The UK emphasized that it “will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”