International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has pleaded for clemency from the United Kingdom for Former Nigerian Vice-Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Dr. Obinna Obeta.
Recall that the Central Criminal Court Old Bailey in London found Ekweremadus and the doctor guilty and convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of the United Kingdom.
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H.E. Ambassador (Dr.) Duru Hezekiah, IHRC’s Ambassador at Large and Head of Diplomatic Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, stated on Wednesday in Abuja while speaking to reporters. He stated that Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu is a patriotic Nigerian who has served three consecutive terms in the Nigerian Senate since 2003.
The Nigerian former Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Obeta, 51, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man for organ harvesting.
He ascribed Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s actions to parental instincts to save his daughter and not for commercial gain, as well as possible ignorance of the law of the United Kingdom, adding that a Distinguished Personality and lawmaker of his stature would not engage in such a heinous act.
“In conveying this clemency, satisfactory evidence presented to me, the Head of the Diplomatic Mission to the International Human Rights Commission in Nigeria, demonstrates that Ike Ekweremadu is a law-abiding Nigerian citizen. A man of integrity who has served his country and the ECOWAS Parliament in a variety of capacities as Deputy Speaker/Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, and who has contributed positively to humanitarian aid and the development of politics in Nigeria and the Sub-Saharan Continent, as suggested by Dr Duru.
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“Although the Nigerian Senate, House of Representatives, and ECOWAS Parliament have appealed for leniency in the sentencing of Senator Ike Ekweremadu, along with his wife Beatrice and Dr. Obinna Obeta, it is primarily due to the trust and confidence in the Integrity and Fidelity of Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, who has a high regard for international laws and treaties.”
“However, as a Transnational Intergovernmental Organisation with an unrepentant stance against Human Trafficking, I would like to take this opportunity to express to you, along with Patriots from around the world, our sincere appeal for your leniency in the preceding testimony as stated.
Permit me to also cite the Holy Bible: Grace and mercy are only available to the unworthy and the condemned, which means that a man can be set free even if he has violated the law. Grace will always save the worst in us, while the law will always condemn the best in us. I therefore pray that you will treat him and others with Love, Mercy, and Grace, which I believe will enable them to cease sinning.
“I would like to express my hope that you will lend us your valuable cooperation and assure you that I will make every effort to maintain the trust and confidence in our relationships,” he stated.
