Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the Chief Clerk of the Central Criminal Court in London, appealing to British authorities to be lenient in punishing Senator Ike Ekweremmadu and his wife, Beatrice.
The Former Deputy Senate President, his, wife, and doctor, Obinna Obeta were convicted of organ trafficking, in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act in the UK.
After a six weeks trial at the Old Bailey, the 60-year-old politician, his wife, Beatrice, 56, daughter Sonia 25, and Dr. Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty of criminally conspiring and facilitating the travel of a 21-year-old street trader to Britain to exploit him for his kidney.
However, former president Obasanjo has urged the Chief Clerk of the London court to plead with the UK government to consider its good relations with Nigeria, Senator Ekweremmadu's political standing, and their daughter's need for urgent medical intervention, in apportioning any punishment to the couple.
In a letter, entitled, "Re: Ike Ekweremadu", dated April 3, 2023, and addressed to the Chief Clerk of the Court, former president Obasanjo acknowledged that Senator Ekweremmadu and his wife acted in a condemnable and unpleasant manner and hoped that had learned from their "distressing experience."
“Mr. Chief Clerk, I am very much aware of the current travails and conviction of Ike Ekweremmadu 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 to harvest organs for their daughter.
"I do realize the implications of their action and I dare say, it is unpleasant and condemnable and can’t be tolerated in any sane or civilized society.
“However, it is my fervent desire for the very warm relations between the United Kingdom and the 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 to take their good character and parental instinct and care into consideration.
“I do hope Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadu have learned 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 society in particular and the nation in general,” Obasanjo wrote.
Politics and Opinion.
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