The United Kingdom government has officially turned down a formal request from the Nigerian government to transfer former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to complete his prison sentence for organ trafficking in Nigeria.
Diplomatic Efforts Fail
A high-level delegation sent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice on November 10, 2025 to discuss the possibility of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria. The delegation was led by Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.
However, sources within the UK Ministry of Justice have confirmed to The Guardian UK that the request was rejected. The UK government expressed concerns that Nigeria could not provide sufficient guarantees that Ekweremadu would actually continue his prison sentence if deported back to his home country.
The Landmark Conviction
Ike Ekweremadu, 63, is currently serving a sentence of nine years and eight months in a UK prison. He was convicted in 2023 of conspiring to exploit a young man for his kidney.
The case involved Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and their co-conspirator Dr. Obinna Obeta trafficking a young man to London with the intention of harvesting his kidney. The organ was intended for transplantation to Ekweremadu's daughter, Sonia, at a private unit within an NHS hospital.
This marked the first conviction for organ trafficking under the UK's Modern Slavery Act, setting a significant legal precedent.
Case Details and Co-conspirators
In February 2022, the victim was taken to the Royal Free Hospital's private renal unit in London under false pretenses. The Ekweremadus claimed the young man was Sonia's cousin and had agreed to an £80,000 transplant procedure.
Despite bribing a medical secretary, the attempted transplant was ultimately rejected by the hospital in March 2022. Notably, hospital staff did not report the suspicious incident to police at the time.
The plot unraveled when the victim, identified only as 'C' in court proceedings, fled to police fearing for his life. He believed Obeta was planning to arrange another transplant attempt in Nigeria.
Beatrice Ekweremadu, who received a four-year, six-month sentence with half served in custody, was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria.
Dr. Obinna Obeta received a ten-year sentence, with the court ruling he must serve two-thirds of it in prison. Interestingly, Obeta had himself received a kidney transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in July 2021 from another man allegedly trafficked from Nigeria.
Judicial Condemnation
During sentencing, Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson described all three conspirators as participants in a "despicable trade." He strongly condemned their actions, stating that "the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery" that treats human beings as mere commodities.
The judge specifically identified Ekweremadu as the "driving force" behind the organ trafficking plot and noted that his conviction represented "a very substantial fall from grace" for the prominent Nigerian politician.
A UK government spokesperson declined to comment on individual prisoners but emphasized that "any prisoner transfer is at our discretion following a careful assessment of whether it would be in the interests of justice."
Another source reinforced the UK's position, stating clearly: "The UK will not tolerate modern slavery and any offender will face the full force of UK law."
