Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years in prison by a United Kingdom Crown Court on allegations of organ harvesting. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, has blamed the Nigerian government for his trials.
The Igbo organization said that the Federal Government harassed the lawmaker in order to seize his properties, despite the fact that the case’s specifics were made public.
The National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, accused the government of doing little to aid Ekweremadu because it was also after him in a statement released on Saturday in Owerri.
“We feel sad. Ike Ekweremadu is an illustrious son of Igboland. He has been indicted and sentenced to long imprisonment.
“It’s unfortunate and saddening that this has befallen him. Ekweremadu is an eminent personality in Nigeria; he served the country meritoriously even as Deputy President of the Senate, and was Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament.
“For a man that has the kind of experience he has to be away from the scene for ten years, it’s very unfortunate. But we’re hopeful that they will overcome this travail.
“This is a man who has been around you, walked with you for years and when he needed your help, they were busy talking about auctioning his properties.
“They did not treat him like someone who has served meritoriously in this country.
“Rather, while he was facing the travails, the federal government came out with charges and allegations of corruption and seized his properties.
“All those things indicated that it was not only the UK court that was after him, but the FG was also after him,” Ogbonnia said.