Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has waded into the legal travails of a former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, in the United Kingdom over the crime of conspiracy to harvest the organ of a 21-year-old Nigerian.
The one-time Nigerian leader is calling on the Chief Clerk of the Central Criminal Court in London to temper justice with mercy.
Obasanjo, in a letter dated April 3, 2023 and addressed to the Chief Clerk of the Court titled ‘Re: Ike Ekweremadu’, said even though the Enugu West Senator’s action was condemnable and unacceptable, he has contributed his quota to the socio-political development of Nigeria, hence his punishment should consider his past records of good deeds and the plight of his ailing daughter.
“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,” Obasanjo stated.
Ekweremadu is at risk of being sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in line with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom after a London court found him and his wife, Beatrice, guilty of organ trafficking.
Following the guilty verdicts by Mr Justice Johnson on March 23, 2023, Ekweremadu and his wife were remanded in custody and await sentencing on May 5.
The duo faced the accusations alongside a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, and their daughter, Sonia, who was cleared of charges after the jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours.
The Ekweremadus were arrested and had been in the custody of UK authorities after they received complaints from the young man about their alleged plans to harvest his organ.
The young man, a trader from Lagos, was to be rewarded for donating a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 frowns on human trafficking under which organ harvesting falls.
According to the human trafficking offence in Section 2 Subsection 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person (“V”) with a view to V being exploited.
Subsection 2 states that it is irrelevant whether V consents to the travel (whether V is an adult or a child).
In Section 2 Subsection 7, the law stated that “a person who is not a UK national commits an offence under this section if any part of the arranging or facilitating takes place in the United Kingdom, or the travel consists of arrival in or entry into, departure from, or travel within, the United Kingdom.”
The penalties under the Act stated in Section 5 Subsection that a person guilty of an offence under section 1 or 2 is liable, (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
In Section 5 Subsection 2, a person guilty of an offence under Section 4 is liable (unless Subsection 3 applies), (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
Subsection 3 states that where the offence under Section 4 is committed by kidnapping or false imprisonment, a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
