Abike Dabiri adds her voice to those pleading with UK to temper justice with mercy

NIGERIANS in Diaspora Commission (Nidcom) chairperson Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has added her voice to the growing number of people asking the UK government to show leniency towards former deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Tomorrow, on Friday May 5, Senator Ekweremadu and his wife are due to be sentenced after they were found guilty of bringing a man to the UK with the view to harvest his kidneys. In a landmark ruling at the Old Bailey in March 23, the Ekweremadus and Dr Obeta, a London doctor, were found guilty under the UK's modern day slavery laws.

A jury found that they conspired to bring a victim to London to exploit Lagos street trader David Ukpo Nwamini to the UK for the purpose of harvesting his kidney. Testifying in court, Mr Nwamini, 21, accused Senator Ekweremadu of trying to harvest his kidney for their daughter, Sonia, aged 25.

With Senator Ekweremadu facing the prospect of 10 years behind bars, there have been a lof of pleas for the London court to dispense justice with mercy. Former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the court asking it to be lenient, as has Nigeria's House of Representatives, after a resolution to that effect was passed following a motion sponsored by Hon Toby Okechukwu from Enugu State.

Now, Hon Dabiri-Erewa, the Nidcom chair has also pleaded with the UK government to show leniency. She pleaded with the court to show compassion and sympathy in this case, imploring the UK government to temper justice with mercy, having admitted that mistakes have been made and lessons learnt.

Hon Dabiri-Erewa said: "I join men and women of goodwill to plead for clemency for Senator Ike Ekweremadu, if only even considering the psychological  trauma, Sonia, the daughter, would be going through knowing that her parents are in jail because they tried to save her from a health condition she had no control over."

Although she accepted  that there is no ignorance before the law, Hon Dabiri-Erewa added that Senator Ekweremadu and his wife acted under natural instincts of parents to save an ailing daughter and not for commercial purposes.