By Steve Azaiki
Justice is one of the greatest pillars of every civilized society. Yet, throughout history, justice has always found its highest expression when tempered with mercy. It is in this spirit that I join many distinguished voices, including former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, the Nigerian Senate, and countless well-meaning individuals across the world, in appealing to the Government of the United Kingdom and the British correctional authorities to consider the compassionate release of Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, constitutional lawyer, and former Deputy President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, devoted decades of his life to public service. During his long legislative career, he distinguished himself as one of Nigeria’s most experienced parliamentarians. He played a significant role in constitutional reforms, championed democratic governance, promoted legislative diplomacy, and contributed immensely to strengthening democratic institutions in Nigeria and across Africa. His contributions earned him respect not only within Nigeria but also among parliamentary bodies throughout the Commonwealth and internationally.
I have had the privilege of knowing Senator Ekweremadu personally over many years. On several occasions, we exchanged ideas on Nigeria, Africa, governance, and the future of our continent. I always found him thoughtful, intellectually engaging, and deeply committed to national development.
When Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, CFR, and I established the National Think Tank Nigeria as Co-Chairmen, one of the distinguished leaders I visited was Senator Ike Ekweremadu. We had a fruitful discussion on the need for an independent national think tank that would generate policy ideas capable of strengthening governance, promoting national unity, and advancing sustainable development. He appreciated the vision and understood the value of informed public policy in building a stronger Nigeria.
The circumstances that led to Senator Ekweremadu’s conviction are well known. In 2022, he, together with his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, and a medical doctor, was prosecuted in the United Kingdom over arrangements involving a young Nigerian man who had travelled to Britain with the intention of donating a kidney to Senator Ekweremadu’s seriously ill daughter. The prosecution argued that the donor had been recruited for the purpose of organ harvesting and that proper consent and legal requirements had not been met under the UK’s modern slavery legislation.
Following a lengthy trial at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey) in London, the case was presided over by His Honour Judge Jeremy Johnson. In May 2023, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months’ imprisonment, while his wife received a custodial sentence of four years and six months. The case attracted global attention because it was the first conviction under the United Kingdom’s legislation relating to trafficking for the purpose of organ removal.
From the outset of the proceedings, former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a heartfelt letter to the British court appealing for mercy.
The Nigerian Senate also passed a resolution urging clemency, emphasizing Senator Ekweremadu’s decades of distinguished public service and his contributions to democracy. Although the court ultimately reached its decision based on the law and the evidence before it, those appeals reflected the widespread belief that the actions arose not from criminal greed or financial gain but from the desperate efforts of parents seeking to save the life of their gravely ill child.
This distinction is important.
No parent wishes to witness the suffering of a child. When confronted with a life-threatening illness affecting one’s son or daughter, reason often competes with fear, hope, and desperation. Across every culture and every nation, parents have made extraordinary sacrifices to preserve the lives of their children. While compassion cannot excuse breaches of the law, it can help us understand the human emotions that sometimes lead otherwise law-abiding people into tragic errors of judgment.
The Ekweremadu case is, in many respects, the story of a father’s overwhelming love for his child. It is the painful story of a family confronted with an unimaginable medical crisis and making decisions under intense emotional pressure. It is also a reminder that even accomplished public servants are human beings, vulnerable to the fears and anxieties that every parent experiences when a child’s life hangs in the balance.
Senator Ekweremadu has now served a substantial portion of his sentence. The objectives of criminal justice—accountability, deterrence, and respect for the rule of law—have been significantly advanced. There also comes a point when mercy itself becomes an affirmation of the values that underpin justice.
The United Kingdom has a long and respected tradition of balancing justice with humanity. Its legal system has earned worldwide admiration because it recognizes that compassion has an important place within the administration of justice. Acts of clemency, where appropriate and consistent with the law, do not weaken justice; they demonstrate its moral strength.
I therefore respectfully appeal to the Government of the United Kingdom and to the appropriate British correctional and parole authorities to consider Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s case on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Such consideration would take into account his years of public service, his previously unblemished record, the exceptional family circumstances that gave rise to the offence, the time already served, and the profound remorse and suffering experienced by all involved.
This appeal is not an invitation to diminish the seriousness of the offence or to undermine the rule of law. Rather, it is a plea that justice be accompanied by mercy, recognizing the deeply human circumstances from which this tragic episode arose.
As one who has known Senator Ike Ekweremadu personally, who has shared conversations with him about the future of Nigeria and Africa, and who has witnessed his commitment to public service, I sincerely hope that the British authorities will find it possible, within the framework of their laws, to extend compassion.
History often remembers societies not only for how faithfully they enforce justice, but also for how generously they exercise mercy.
May Compassion Prevail!
Professor Steve Azaiki, OON
(taken from my unpublished book Nigeria at war)
