ON THE TRIAL OF IKE EKWEREMADU

Is Ekweremadu a victim of circumstances? asks Pat Onukwuli

It is no longer news that the former Nigerian Deputy Senate President for three consecutive tenures, Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, and one Dr. Obinna Obeta were on March 23, 2023, found guilty of organ harvesting by the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales on Old Bailey, London. On June 23, 2022, the three were arraigned and the prosecutors told the trial court that they conspired and brought a victim from Nigeria with the intention of harvesting his kidney in an £80,000 private transplant facility at the Royal Free Hospital, London. The court cleared and acquitted the intended recipient of the organ, Sonia (Ekweremadu’s daughter) of the same charge. On May 5, 2023, the court delivered judgment with the sentencing of Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months imprisonment, his wife four years and six months and lastly Obeta, 10 years.

On the face of it, the court spoke eloquently and delivered justice on the matter. At any rate, the court system functions to effectively uphold the rule of law which is crucial in justice delivery. This being the case, Ekweremadu’s high office could not exculpate or get him preferential treatment for any wrongdoing. It means that all individuals, regardless of their social status, political influence, wealth, or position, are subject to the same laws and will be held accountable for their actions if they violate those laws. Themis, the Goddess of Justice, is depicted as a blindfolded lady holding scales and a sword to respectively symbolise impartiality and objectivity in the administration of justice as the power and authority to enforce justice.

Themis, therefore, speaks to the aspiration that the extraction of judgments be solely on the facts and evidence presented without the influence of personal opinions, appearances, or other extraneous factors. Philosophically, her representation continues to serve as a symbol of the principles and values that underpin the administration of justice. Therefore, a well-articulated judgement should provide clarity, establish a legal precedent, and promote public trust in a judicial system. Ekweremadu’s conviction generated a lot of controversies with many pointing out that the evidence against him was strong, and that he received a fair trial and was justly convicted.

On the flip side, others disagree. Many of his supporters claimed that he was let down and unfairly targeted by the British authorities. They consider the court judgement unjust. No wonder the phrase attributed to Mr. Bumble in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist that “The law is an ass” suggests the frustration or criticism towards the perceived flaws or absurdities of a legal system. It equally suggests that the law can sometimes be illogical, unfair, lacking in common sense, and subject to presented evidence and societal norms. While some others have the view that the Ekweremadus should have been given the benefit of the doubt considering the circumstances of the case.

Unfortunately, in criminal court proceedings, the primary objective is to determine whether a person has committed a crime and, if so, to impose an appropriate punishment. The principles of equity, such as considerations of fairness, individual circumstances, or balancing of interests, play a relatively limited role in the criminal justice system unlike in the civil realm. However, there may be instances where equitable considerations come into play during criminal proceedings, particularly when it comes to sentencing. Judges or other decision-makers might consider factors such as the defendant’s circumstances, history, or potential for rehabilitation when determining an appropriate sentence within the legal framework.

Evidence shows that Ekweremadu had in December 2021, written a letter to the British High Commission, regarding a visa application for his daughter, Sonia, scheduled for medical investigations for a kidney donation. Again, Ekweremadu’s defence lawyer Hicks QC, in making his closing statement, insisted that the victim, David Nwamini, the presumed victim of the kidney-harvesting exploitation, was not plucked off the streets of Lagos and trafficked to the United Kingdom. Neither did the evidence support what Nwamini told the Police that he was a 15-year-old orphan who did not know why he was brought to the United Kingdom. One then wonders why these were not pieces of vitiating evidence against their conviction and if the British High Commission did owe Ekweremadus a duty of care. These also question the presence of specific components of Actus Reus and Mens Rea that must be proven to establish a crime.

Hicks, drily titled his closing statement an Inconvenient Truth. He stated that the Crown Prosecutors cashed in on Nwamini’s allegations, having realised they had a high-profile politician whose prosecution could be used to set a precedent for organ donation’s strand of the Modern Slavery Act. As an obiter dictum, the wording of this Act is a great injustice to what millions of black people suffered during transatlantic slavery. At best, the phrasing is an attempt at historical reductionism that seeks to casualise and oversimplify the brutal and cruel historical events that would let beneficiaries of the illicit trade off the hook and in so doing avoid propitiation. On the other end, it is deliberate ambiguity and sophistry by denialists and revisionists designed for the manipulation and distortion of historical narratives for deceptive purposes. These tally with controversial and provocative ideas enunciated by Protagoras, which holds that truth and knowledge are subjective and dependent on an individual or a culture.

From the home front, the Ekweremadus were left to dry. They were virtually abandoned and neglected to their own devices without assistance or support. The federal government and National Assembly’s intervention and assistance were lethargic and woeful. It took almost one month after former President Olusegun Obasanjo intervened with a letter, he wrote to the UK court pleading for leniency, for the House of Representatives to pass a motion for appeal to the UK government to grant Ekweremadu and his wife clemency. Interestingly, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila while pleading for clemency said that it behooved the government of any country with a distressed citizen(s) anywhere in the world, like the Ekweremadu’s, to intervene. He referred to the American citizen and basket baller, Brittney Griner, who was arrested by the Russian authorities, and how the US government did not relent for a day even as the case escalated until her release was secured. Sadly, the Red Chambers where Ekweremadu was part of its leadership for more than a decade only appealed barely 48 hours before they were sentenced.

Curiously, as the Ekweremadus were incarcerated in the United Kingdom, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), proceeded to court and obtained an order seizing 40 properties that were linked to the embattled, Ike Ekweremadu. However, the Federal High Court in Abuja has vacated the interim order that permitted it. In his ruling on the matter, Justice Ekwo accused the EFCC of misleading the court, stressing that the agency was aware that Ekweremadu would not be able to come before the court to show cause since he is in detention. This would have been a double whammy that begs the question of whether these are mere coincidences or other factors at play.

Dr Onukwuli writes from Bolton, UK, (patonukwuli2003@yahoo.co.uk)