THE Nigerian Senate will send a delegation to the United Kingdom to meet former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is being held alongside his wife, Beatrice Neanneka, over charges relating to organ harvesting.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan disclosed this after a closed-door session on Wednesday.
He said that the delegation which is made up of members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs will depart Nigeria for the UK on Friday.
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While noting that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama has been engaged to provide necessary diplomatic support for the embattled couple, the Senate President directed the committee to engage the British High Commission in Nigeria to get more details on the case.
He said the Senate decided to limit discussion on the case because the issue was already in court.
Lawan also assured Ekweremadu’s family and Nigerians that the Senate will continue to engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian High Commission in London on the case.
“There will be a delegation to London to see Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife. A delegation from the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate will leave in the next two days to London for that purpose.
“I want to urge all all Federal Government institutions that can do anything to ensure that Justice prevails in this case, that they do so,” Lawan said.
In the same vein, the House of Representatives has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian High Commission in the UK to ensure that Ekweremadu and his wife get fair hearing in the case filed against them by the UK police.
The House directed the ministry to provide every necessary support, including legal defence, for the couple.
The lawmakers also summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, as well as the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, to brief its relevant committees on the issue.
The House took the decision after adopting a motion moved by Abdullahi Abdulkadir, who expressed concern over the arrest of the Ekweremadus by the UK Metropolitan Police.
The ICIR reported that the Ekweremadus were arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Team last week and remanded in custody.
They were arrested on June 23 over alleged conspiracy to harvest the organ of a minor.
However, reports have emerged that the alleged underage victim, David Ukpo, may not be a minor as declared by the UK police.
Ekweremadu and his wife were denied bail and remanded in custody when they appeared before the Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in London on June 23.
They are expected to appear before the court again on July 7 for continuation of the hearing.
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