Buhari asked to summon UK high commissioner to protest jail sentence handed out to Ekweremadu

FORMER All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant Adamu Garba has asked the federal government to summon the British high commissioner to Nigeria and protest the hefty jail sentence handed out to former deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

This afternoon, Senator Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice and Dr Obinna Obeta were sentenced to prison for their involvement in the organ harvesting charges brought against them by a UK court. Senator Ekweremadu was jailed for nine years and eight months while his wife received four years and six months.

Dr Obeta, 50,  the medical middleman who was responsible for getting the kidney donor, received a 10 year prison term for his role in the saga. In a landmark ruling at the Old Bailey in March 23, the Ekweremadus and Dr Obeta 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. Reacting to the sentence, Mr Garba described it as a dent on Nigeria’s image and sovereignty.

Commenting on his Twitter handle, Mr Garba insisted that it is not ideal for a former deputy senate president to serve a jail term in a foreign country. He urged the federal government to summon the UK ambassador to Nigeria and express its displeasure with the situation.

Mr Garba wrote: “I really don’t like this. I see it as a dent upon the image of our country and its sovereignty. A whole former deputy senate president to serve a jail term in a foreign land? What kind of country are we?

“If Nigeria is serious on this issue, we should immediately summon the UK ambassador to Nigeria, express our displeasure with the situation, minding not the attitude of Senator Ekweremadu but the institution he represents. Then, perhaps afterwards, negotiate within our diplomatic basket for what we can give them in order to get him back to Nigeria.”

Sonia, the Ekweremadus’ daughter who has a serious kidney condition, wept as she was cleared of the same charge. During the trial, the court was told that the 21-year-old street trader Mr Nwamini, was to be rewarded for donating the organ to Sonia Ekweremadu in an £80,000 private procedure at London’s Royal Free Hospital.

This case marked the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ harvesting conspiracy. While it is lawful to donate a kidney, it becomes criminal if money or another material advantage is rewarded.

During the trial, the prosecution claimed the donor was offered up to £7,000 and promised a better life in the UK. Ho9wever, the donor did not understand until his first appointment with a consultant at the hospital that he was there for a kidney transplant, the Old Bailey was told.