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Key Highlights
- The former president wrote to the U.K. court clerk to appeal to the U.K. government on Ekweremadu’s case.
- He told the clerk that he is aware of their condemnable act but that he should intervene for the sake of their sick daughter
- He also asked the clerk to appeal to the U.K. government to consider their good character and parental instinct when punishing them.
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria has written the United Kingdom asking them to temper justice with mercy on the matter of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice.
Recall Nairametrics had reported that Senator Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were found guilty for Organ harvesting by a U.K Court in Old Bailey.
Obasanjo’s letter was addressed to the Chief Clerk of the court which found the couple guilty of organ harvesting in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
Obasanjo’s Plea
The former president pleaded with the clerk to intervene for the sake of ekweremadu’s daughter whose current health condition is in danger and requires urgent medical attention
He noted that he realizes the implications of their action that is condemnable and can’t be tolerated in any sane society however, for the sake of Ekweremadu’s position in the Nigerian parliament, and his sick daughter, the clerk should intervene and appeal to the U.K government to consider their good character and parental instinct when punishing them.
He said he hopes the Couple has learned from this experience to guide their future actions.
Some part of the letter reads “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.
It is with great pleasure that I write in respect of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who I have known for over two decades. Within this period, I have followed and watched, with keen interest, Ike Ekweremadu’s inspiring career which traversed private legal practice and public administration. I recall, with fond memories, the beginnings of our political and social relations at the outset of our collective quest for democratic rebirth for our fatherland. During my administration as a democratically-elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, Ike Ekweremadu and I had close relationship and interactions as staunch members of our political party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and more so as he got elected into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2003, of which he has since remained a member till date.
- “Ike Ekweremadu’s conferment with the coveted national honor of Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR, is further testimony to his selfless service to our country, Nigeria.
- “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 realize 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 for very warm relations between the United Kingdom and the 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 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 to take their good character and parental instinct and care into consideration.
- “I do hope Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadu have learned 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 society in particular and the nation in general.”
Ekweremadu story
The Senator and his wife Beatrice were arrested on June 21, at Heathrow Airport following their arrival from Turkey.
They were accused of plotting to traffic 21-year-old David Ukpo from Nigeria to the United Kingdom to transplant his organs to their daughter who is suffering from kidney failure.
Subsequently, they were arraigned on June 23, before the Uxbridge magistrate court in London for charges bordering on alleged conspiracy and organ harvesting.
Beatrice was granted bail leaving the former deputy senate president in custody.
While Senator Ike was charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting, Beatrice was charged with arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, between August 1 last year and May 5, under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
In March 2023, Ekweremadu was convicted after the court found him guilty under the Modern Slavery Act.
The court also found Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta guilty.
The 50-year-old doctor, Obinna Obeta from Southwark, South London was accused of plotting with the couple to traffic the 21-year-old.
Source: Nairametrics | Read More
