Beatrice Ekweremadu, wife of former Nigerian Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has returned to Nigeria following her release from a United Kingdom prison. She arrived in the country on Tuesday, January 21, 2026, after completing the custodial portion of her sentence for her involvement in a high-profile organ-harvesting conspiracy.
This marks her first time on Nigerian soil since the legal proceedings began in mid-2022. She was warmly received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by family members and close associates. Her hometown of Mpu in Aninri Local Government Area (LGA), Enugu State, reportedly celebrated her homecoming, though her husband remains incarcerated in the UK.
Mrs. Ekweremadu was convicted in May 2023 by the Old Bailey in London and sentenced to four years and six months in prison for conspiring to facilitate the travel of a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to the UK to harvest his kidney. The organ was intended for the couple’s daughter, Sonia, who suffers from a chronic kidney condition. The prosecution was conducted under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015, marking the first use of the law in a human organ-harvesting case.
Under UK regulations, non-violent offenders are typically eligible for release on license after serving half of their custodial term. Reports indicate that Mrs. Ekweremadu’s good conduct and a UK government initiative to relieve prison overcrowding contributed to her early release.
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Senator Ike Ekweremadu, however, continues to serve a nine-year, eight-month sentence in a UK correctional facility, after the court deemed him the primary orchestrator of the conspiracy. Efforts by the Nigerian government to secure his repatriation through a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) were rejected by the UK Home Office in November 2025 over concerns about enforcing the sentence in Nigeria.
The third convict, Dr. Obinna Obeta, described as the medical “middleman” in the case, is serving a 10-year prison term in the UK. Meanwhile, Sonia Ekweremadu, who was cleared of all charges in the trial, remains in the UK receiving medical treatment for her kidney condition.
(Arise News)