The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, says he would meet with the Speaker of the United Kingdom Parliament over the ongoing trial of former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.
Recall that Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested by the UK Metropolitan Police on allegations of organ trafficking.
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.
