A high-level delegation sent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice today, November 10 to discuss the case of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been detained in Britain since March 2023.
The delegation included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi. The meeting signals a renewed diplomatic effort by the Tinubu administration regarding the high-profile detention. Following the talks, the delegation was received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
This high-level intervention from the Nigerian government occurs against a backdrop of increasing—and sometimes contentious—engagement between the British and Nigerian legal systems involving public figures.
Senator Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and a doctor were convicted in March 2023 of conspiring to arrange the travel of a young man to the UK to exploit him for his kidney, a crime under the Modern Slavery Act.
Ekweremadu was subsequently sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison. His detention and conviction mark the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act and sent a global message that powerful political figures are not above the law.
The current diplomatic effort is reminiscent of past high-profile legal sagas where Nigerian authorities have engaged with the UK legal system. Notable examples include the successful prosecution and sentencing of former Delta State Governor James Ibori in the UK for fraud and money laundering, and, more recently, the protracted P&ID case, where a London judge ultimately overturned a multi-billion dollar arbitration award against Nigeria, citing evidence of fraud and bribery.
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