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Organ trafficking: Obasanjo writes UK court, pleads for Ekweremadu
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the United Kingdom court regarding the embattled former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice, who were recently found guilty of organ trafficking.
In the letter addressed to the Chief Clerk, the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, in London, the former President urged the Clerk to intervene and ensure the UK government tempered justice with mercy on the matter
The former Deputy Senate President is on the verge of being jailed for ten years in tandem with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom after a London court had found him and his wife guilty of organ trafficking.
Justice Johnson, who gave the verdict, had ordered Ekweremadu and his wife be remanded in custody and await sentencing on May 5.
However, Obasanjo in his letter dated April 3, 2023, said the Ekweremadus had learnt their lesson from the ordeal, pleading the UK government for mercy.
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The letter reads in part, “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 realise the implications of their action and I dare say, it is unpleasant and condemnable and can’t be tolerated in any sane or civilised society.
“However, it is my fervent desire for very warm relations between the United Kingdom and 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 take their good character and parental instinct and care into consideration.
“I do hope Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadu have learnt 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 the society in particular and the nation in general.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has pleaded leniency for former Deputy Senate Ike Ekweremadu who was found guilty of organ trafficking in the United Kingdom.
Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice with a doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.
They were found to have criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney on March 23, 2023 by the jury.
Ahead of the sentencing of the trio, Obasanjo, in a letter the Chief Clerk of The Central Criminal Court Old Bailey, London dated April 3, 2023 said the urgent need of medical attention by Sonia should make the United Kingdom temper justice with mercy.