The house of
representatives has resolved to take measures to enable Ike
Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president, and his wife, Beatrice, to get
justice in the UK.
At Tuesday’s plenary session, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of
the house, said he will “try” to meet his UK counterpart to ensure the
Ekweremadus are given fair treatment.
Gbajabiamila made the remarks following the adoption of a
motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Abdullahi Abdulkadir, a
legislator from Bauchi state.
The former deputy senate president and his wife were recently arrested for allegedly taking an individual to the UK for organ harvesting.
They were subsequently remanded in custody till July 7.
Gbajabiamila said the lower legislative chamber will use
“diplomatic pressure” to ensure that “due process” is followed in the issue.
“I have spoken with the Nigerian high commissioner (to the
UK, Sharafa Ishola) who has been extremely proactive in this matter and I
expressed the need for him to continue to avail Senator Ekweremadu with all the
necessary assistance that he will need to prove his case. I think this should
be heightened as well to the UK parliament,” Gbajabiamila said.
“I would try and get
in touch with the speaker of the parliament (UK) whom I was opportune to meet
with and had fruitful discussions with just a couple of months ago. I believe
honourable Buba Yusuf (chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs)
should also get in touch with his foreign affairs counterpart in the UK
parliament.
“We are not talking about anything but for the parliament in
the UK to make sure that Senator Ekweremadu gets the proper due process, that
the rule of law is applied and that he is treated fairly on this matter. I
believe the UK parliament or the congress of the United States, if their own
was involved or if they have one of theirs, even a citizen, in this country
that was going through the same travails, I believe that those parliaments
would responsibly get involved as well. So, we must apply diplomatic pressure.”
The speaker said Nigeria and the UK have “strong diplomatic
ties”, adding that “we have to wait to gather all the facts” on the matter.
THE MOTION
While moving his motion, Abdulkadir said fresh information
suggests a different narrative which might not be available to the UK police at
the time of the arrest of Ekweremadu and his wife.
He said the UK should work with Nigeria to “conduct a
holistic and thorough investigation to ascertain all the facts relating to the
allegation in order to make a fair determination on the issues in the best
interest of equity and justice for all concerned”.
Contribution to the motion, Toby Okechukwu, deputy minority
leader, said the UK may have acted on inaccurate information.
The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a
voice vote by Gbajabiamila.
The house subsequently mandated the ministry of foreign
affairs and the high commission of Nigeria to the UK to wade into the matter.
The lower chamber asked the National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and banks to “swiftly
respond to legitimate requests for information to facilitate the prompt
resolution of the charges”.
The minister of foreign affairs, acting comptroller of the
NIS, director-general and chief executive officer of NIMC were also invited to
“brief the house of representatives through the relevant committees on all
necessary actions taken regarding this matter”.
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