Several months after his arrest, former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, is still in search of freedom from a Central Criminal Court in London, United Kingdom, where he is standing trial for organ harvesting.
He was arrested in June 23, 2022 in London, with his wife Beatrice, by the Metropolitan Police, for organ harvesting.
While Beatrice was granted bail about a month after their arrest, precisely on July 26, 2022, her husband remains in custody and has been taken in and out of court seven months after. Attempts by his team of lawyers to secure bail for him have not been fruitful.
Apart from his trial in the UK, back home in the country, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has also obtained an order of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, for temporary seizure of some of his property across the country.
Definitely, this is not the best of times for the Ekweremadus.
With his ordeal presently, retaining his seat at the Senate, which he had occupied for over 20 years is obviously not realisable. As a matter of fact, his major priority now would be to regain freedom from custody in the UK.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, is accused with his wife, Beatrice, 56, their daughter, Sonia, 25, and a doctor of bringing a man from Nigeria to have his kidney removed.
The UK police had said the alleged donor, later identified as Ukpo Nwamini David, was 15 years old, but his passport data page showed he was born on October 12, 2000.
The 21-year-old man is said to have raised the alarm after refusing to consent to the operation following preliminary tests at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Shortly after their arrest, the Met police in the UK said, “A woman and a man were charged today with conspiring to arrange the travel of a child into the UK in order to harvest organs.
“The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team.
“[A] Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
“[B] Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
“They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court later today.
The police had further alleged that David Ukpo, the reported victim at the centre of the organ harvesting allegation, is a 15-year-old but the court ruled that he is 21.
The former senator wrote to the UK High Commission in December 2021 to support a visa application for Ukpo. In the letter, Ekweremadu said Ukpo was undergoing medical investigation for a kidney donation to Sonia Ekweremadu, his daughter, who needs a kidney transplant.
He said both Ukpo and Sonia will be at the Royal Free Hospital London.
Some Nigerians, especially those of Igbo extraction, believe the Nigerian government hasn’t done enough to intervene in the ordeal of the former DSP in the country.
According to them, if Ekweremadu were to be a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the government would have done more to secure his release, at least on bail.
However, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, while reacting to the court’s decision, described it as “hasty” and a “selective judgment.”
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said, “We are aware that there are several allegations of corruption cases pending in the EFCC but the urgency and selective judgment in the case of Ekweremadu are not only curious but indeed true to type.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on all Nigerian legal luminaries of goodwill to intervene against gradual steps towards totalitarianism in Nigeria.”
Could Ekweremadu lose his seat?
There have also been calls to declare the lawmaker’s seat in the Senate vacant. With the latest decision of the UK court and the earlier ruling of a Federal High Court following the EFCC’s motion, there is uncertainty as to whether the Nigerian government would declare Ekweremadu’s Senate seat vacant.
Some lawyers who spoke to Quest Times on the development, expressed fears that the former DSP may find it difficult to get out of the situation he finds himself at the moment.
Constitutional lawyer, Abdul Balogun, says any breach of law in the UK is taken very seriously. According to him, they don’t operate the kind of system we have here where impunity is the order of the day.
He said, “I hope Senator Ekweremadu will be able to get out of the situation he has found himself. The only way out for him is to have a good and strong case, otherwise, he may be heading to jail because their legal system in the UK cannot be compromised.”
Another lawyer, Barrister Ezike Adolphus, said he expects that the Nigerian government should have intervened in the trial.
According to him, “The only thing I see in this trial is that the Nigerian government is playing politics with it. A responsible government would have intervened and done something about it.
“We are talking about a very high ranking government official here. I think in this case, politics or the political party the former DSP belong should not matter, what should matter at this point is fair trial for him which the Nigerian government should ensure.”