The United Kingdom government has officially rejected a request from the Nigerian government to transfer Ike Ekweremadu, Nigeria's former Deputy Senate President, to Nigeria to complete his prison sentence. Ekweremadu is currently serving a sentence of nine years and eight months in a UK facility, following his conviction in 2023 for conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney in a high-profile organ-trafficking case that garnered international attention. This decision means Ekweremadu will remain in the UK to serve the remainder of his term.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration had dispatched a high-level delegation to the United Kingdom to engage British authorities earlier in the month, with meetings held at the UK Ministry of Justice in London. The delegation included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi. They were later received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner. The purpose of these efforts was to appeal for Ekweremadu's early release or a review of his sentence, citing humanitarian and legal grounds.

However, the British government confirmed the rejection of the request. A source at the Ministry of Justice stated that the UK government was concerned that Nigeria could offer no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported. A government spokesperson, while not commenting on individual prisoners, emphasized that any prisoner transfer is at their discretion, following a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice. Another source underlined the UK's firm stance, stating, “The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law.”

The conviction stemmed from a plot involving Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and a co-conspirator, Dr. Obinna Obeta. They trafficked a young man to London with the intention of harvesting his kidney for Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia, to be transplanted in a private unit of an NHS hospital. This case marked the first conviction for organ trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act. The young man, referred to as C in court, was falsely claimed to be Sonia’s cousin and supposedly agreed to an £80,000 transplant. Despite attempts to bribe a medical secretary, the Royal Free Hospital in London rejected the attempted transplant in March 2022. The plot was only uncovered when the victim, fearing for his life, fled to the police, believing he was being lined up for another transplant in Nigeria by Obeta.

In his sentencing remarks, Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson described the actions of the conspirators as a “despicable trade,” emphasizing that “the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery. It treats human beings and their bodies as commodities to be bought and sold.” The judge identified Ekweremadu as the “driving force” behind the organ-trafficking plot, noting that his conviction represented “a very substantial fall from grace.” The trial also exposed vulnerabilities and potential complacency in the UK health system regarding organ trafficking.

Regarding the other individuals involved, Beatrice Ekweremadu, who was sentenced to four years and six months (with half spent in custody), was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria. Dr. Obinna Obeta, who had himself received a kidney transplant at the Royal Free in July 2021 from another man allegedly trafficked from Nigeria, was sentenced to 10 years, two-thirds of which must be served in prison.