President Bola Tinubu yesterday dispatched a delegation to the United Kingdom to engage British authorities on the detention of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is serving a nine-year sentence in a UK prison for organ harvesting.

The delegation, which met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice in London earlier on Monday, included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.

The team was later received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

According to credible diplomatic sources, the meeting formed part of President Tinubu’s quiet but sustained efforts to secure either Ekweremadu’s early release or a review of his sentence on humanitarian and legal grounds.

Officials familiar with the talks said the Nigerian government is seeking to open discussions around possible prisoner-transfer arrangements, compassionate parole, or other relief permitted under UK law.

There was, however, no immediate official statement from the UK Ministry of Justice as of press time. Ekweremadu, a veteran lawmaker and three-time Deputy President of the Senate, was convicted at the Old Bailey in March 2023 alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta.

They were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man, David Nwamini, for the removal of his kidney to treat Ekweremadu’s ailing daughter.

He was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, a judgment that drew global attention and intense debate in Nigeria over fairness, ethics, and the limits of diplomatic intervention.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in the past intervened in cases involving its citizens abroad, but the UK maintains that its judicial processes are fully independent. Under British law, requests for sentence review, transfer, or compassionate release must follow specific legal channels and are rarely influenced by political diplomacy.

Legal analysts note that while humanitarian appeals may be considered, any decision to alter or review a sentence would ultimately depend on the UK’s legal standards and internal review mechanisms rather than bilateral negotiations.

Sources within Nigeria’s diplomatic community said follow-up meetings are expected in the coming weeks, potentially involving the UK Home Office and relevant human-rights agencies. A formal statement from either government is anticipated once discussions progress to a definitive stage. (The Guardian)