The question to ask here is whether there are no plots or schemes considered too perverse and distasteful for his unconscionable consolidation of power?
Nigerians are hardly fazed or shocked by the things that happen in their country, especially the actions and inactions of those in power, how they manage the affairs of the country and how they treat those outside the corridors of power, those who are not covered by the dark and surreal garb of impunity and tyranny. In Nigeria, laws are not made for the wealthy and powerful, but for the much-tried, distressed, oppressed and suffering commoners.
Events and occurrences that are deeply frowned upon, which should ordinarily carry severe punishments, are normalised and excused here. Incidents, deeds, actions and happenings that are deemed grave crimes, with those who engaged in them prosecuted, are seen as nothing more than minor infractions and inconsequential foibles. However, the luxury to act with impunity and escape any form of punishment is only reserved for those in power, the rich and the connected. Such latitude is not afforded to the downtrodden and hoi polloi.
In May 2023, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison over a plot to harvest the organ of a young man who was trafficked to the United Kingdom. Ekweremadu was convicted and sentenced alongside his wife, Beatrice, and one doctor, Obinna Obeta. Beatrice and Obinna were sentenced to four years and ten years, respectively. The judgment was hailed as a win for the trafficked boy who was able to get justice and protection in a sane, lawful and working system. It was also seen as a deterrent to Nigerian politicians and elites who may want to export their lawlessness, eccentricity and oppressive tendencies to other nations.
Two years after their convictions and sentencing, Nigerians have since moved on from the Ekweremadu’s organ harvesting saga to other pressing and urgent issues as they grapple with runaway inflation and pervasive insecurity that has now shifted global attention to the country. However, the latest information on developments concerning the Ekweremadus has pushed their ordeal to the front burner of public discourse again.
On Monday, news filtered through that a high-level delegation sent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with officials at the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss the case of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been detained in Britain since March 2023. The delegation, which included Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi – was later received at the Nigerian High Commission in London by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, the Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
The popular narrative, which is hard to dispute or counter, when Ekweremadu and others were sentenced for organ harvesting in the United Kingdom, was that if the Ekweremadus had been indicted in an organ harvesting plot in Nigeria, they would not have been prosecuted let alone convicted and sentenced. If anything, the boy who was at the centre of the scandal, who had raised the alarm over plans to harvest his organs, would have been a victim of systemic oppression and subject to relentless legal hounding. He would more than likely be the one to end up in prison instead of those who seek to exploit and harm him.
Now, in the wake of the disclosure of the meeting between top Nigerian government officials and the UK authorities concerning Ekweremadu’s imprisonment, those who hold the view that the former Senate president would have been let off the hook and will be a free man without the spectre of looming conviction hovering over him if he had committed his organ harvesting crime in Nigeria have been vindicated.
According to reports, the meeting between the Nigerian delegation and the UK authorities ostensibly centred around the transfer of Ekweremadu to Nigeria to complete his prison sentence. This development is worrisome and disturbing. The government’s mulling of the idea of securing the release of Ekweremadu is appalling optics, and the seeming predilection of this government for doing outrageously abhorrent things has not helped either.
As tragic and unfortunate as Ekweremadu’s situation is, he committed a crime and was rightfully convicted and sentenced in a justice system that actually works. An implicit or explicit move to push for his release further sullies Nigeria’s already battered global image. For a government that has been battling a reputational crisis for most of its two years in power, such a move does not inspire confidence among other nations nor does it leave those at home brimming with pride.
If the president’s motive is truly altruistic and selfless, and he is genuinely interested in the plight of Nigerians in UK prisons, there are hundreds of Nigerians, not just students, languishing in prisons across the UK, from Belmarsh Prison to facilities like HMP Chelmsford, HMP Bedford, and HMP Birmingham. These individuals urgently need legal help and consular support. Some are ready to return home but can’t because their passports and travel documents are not sorted. Others remain in prison simply because they don’t have the right support system. These are the people that Tinubu should be working tirelessly to use his position and power to address their legal and judicial challenges.
In addition, Nigerian prisons are packed with thousands of people wrongly incarcerated without trial, he should be issuing directives and putting in place policies that will free these innocent people, decongesting the prison in the process, not wasting taxpayers funds and state resources on an troubling expedition to secure the release of a man who was rightfully convicted and imprisoned after breaking the law of a foreign nation.
While it is obvious as daylight to any right-thinking person that Tinubu’s push for Ekweremadu’s transfer to Nigeria is driven by nothing but the naked pursuit of power and inordinate desire to win at all costs, the question to ask here is whether there are no plots or schemes considered too perverse and distasteful for his unconscionable consolidation of power?
Discussion about this post