The United Kingdom government on Monday rejected a request by the federal government to deport Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy president of the Senate, who is serving a prison sentence for organ trafficking.

Ekweremadu, 63, was convicted in 2023 for conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney, a plot intended to supply a transplant for his daughter in a private NHS facility.

Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and a co-conspirator, Dr. Obinna Obeta, arranged for a young man to be trafficked to London under false pretences. Prosecutors stated that the plan involved a kidney transplant at the Royal Free Hospital, with claims that the victim was the patient’s cousin and had consented to the procedure for £80,000.

The attempt was ultimately blocked by the hospital, though staff failed to report the incident. The case, prosecuted under the Modern Slavery Act, marked the first conviction for organ trafficking in the UK.

Last week, a Nigerian government delegation led by the Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, met officials at the UK Ministry of Justice to request that Ekweremadu serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

The Guardian UK, quoting an unnamed source at the UK’s Ministry of Justice, reported that the federal government’s request was refused over concerns that the former lawmaker may not complete his sentence.

Ekweremadu’s wife, Beatrice, who was sentenced to four years and six months with half served in custody, has since returned to Nigeria. Dr Obeta received a 10-year sentence, two-thirds of which must be served in prison, for his role in the trafficking network.

During sentencing, Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson described the trio’s actions as part of a “despicable trade” and characterised organ harvesting as a form of slavery that treats human beings as commodities. He identified Ike Ekweremadu as the “driving force” behind the scheme, noting that his conviction represented a “very substantial fall from grace.”