Nigerian lawmakers have urged UK prosecutors to “temper justice with mercy” in the case of a Nigerian politician convicted of organ trafficking.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, and a medical “middleman” were convicted in March of an organ-trafficking plot after bringing a 21-year-old man from Lagos to the UK.
Their sentencing is scheduled for this Friday.
The speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, pleaded for leniency, describing Ekweremadu as a “good man” with no prior convictions.
The parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has also written to UK authorities requesting clemency for the convicted politician.
Local Nigerian media cited a letter written by the Ecowas Speaker to the chief clerk of the Old Bailey criminal court in London.
It was stated that, while Ecowas “opposes” the crime for which Ekweremadu was convicted, it “believes that lessons have been learned.”
Ekweremadu was also described as “a major asset to the Ecowas region” in the letter.
