SENATE JOINS HOUSE IN REQUESTING CLEMENCY FOR EKWEREMADU AND HIS WIFE, BEATRICE

Ike Ekweremadu 

The Senate has joined the House of Representatives in urging the UK government and parliament to temper justice with mercy in punishing former deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Mrs. Beatrice Ekweremadu, who were convicted guilty of organ harvesting.

The Senate's decision to seek clemency was prompted by a motion made by Senator Chukwuka Utazi at a plenary session on Wednesday, May 3.

This comes as both the House of Representatives and the ECOWAS Parliament urged the UK government on Tuesday to balance justice with mercy.

"Senator Ike Ekweremadu, as a former Deputy Senate President for 12 years and the former Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, and considering the enormous contributions he did make in the development of democracy in Nigeria, West Africa, and beyond," Senator Utazi said in the motion.

They are considered first-time offenders with no prior criminal histories, given that Ekweremadu was unaware of looking for a kidney donor to come to the United Kingdom and even appealing to the British Government in Abuja for a visa for the donor.

The Senate is not pleased with the Ekweremadus' conviction, and ignorance of the law is not an excuse, but they were forced to do so in order to rescue their dying daughter Sonia.

The Senate has joined the call for clemency in the next sentencing, which is just two days away. Given that all of the convicts are first-time offenders, clemency may be granted to the Ekweremadus.'

Ekweremadu, his wife, and their doctor, Obinna Obeta, are scheduled to be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, on May 5.