Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has sharply criticised the Federal Government’s reported plan to transfer former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu back to Nigeria to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.
Falana made the remarks Thursday during the opening of the Legal Year at the Faculty of Law, University of Abuja, at an event organised by the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), UNIABUJA Chapter.
The outspoken lawyer questioned why the government was particularly focused on Ekweremadu while seemingly overlooking the plight of 232 other Nigerians currently imprisoned in the UK. “Why this preferential treatment?” Falana asked. “I will take up this matter. The so‑called prisoner exchange programme is questionable because there is no British citizen serving a prison term in Nigeria.”
Ekweremadu was convicted in a UK court for his role in an organ trafficking plot. In March 2023, a London jury found him, his wife Beatrice, and a medical doctor guilty of conspiring to bring a 21-year-old man from Lagos to the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter, Sonia.
In May 2023, he was sentenced to nine years and eight months’ imprisonment, his wife to four years and six months, and the doctor received a 10-year term.
At sentencing, the judge described the crime as “a form of slavery … a trade that preys on human poverty, misery and desperation.” Falana’s objection is rooted in concerns about fairness and he argues that Ekweremadu is being singled out for special treatment, while many Nigerians in similar situations are not accorded the same consideration.
In supporting his point, Falana stressed that if a prisoner transfer is to be justified, it should follow a reciprocal or formal exchange mechanism. But he contended that in this case, “there is no British citizen serving a prison term in Nigeria,” which undermines the legitimacy of the “prisoner exchange” narrative.
Falana has promised to challenge the plan, calling it a matter of justice and fairness for all Nigerians serving foreign sentences.
