Organ Harvesting: Ekweremadus to know their fate today as relatives and supporters appeal for leniency

Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were due to be sentenced for

organ harvesting. However, prominent Nigerians and Africans have appealed to the UK Court for clemency on the troubled Nigerian Senator. Members of the Ikeoha Mpu Pacesetters League (IMPL) have joined their voices in calling on the UK Court to show clemency to their mentor and brother by releasing him and his wife unconditionally.

 

The people of Mpu community held a prayer vigil until the morning of the sentencing day to pray for divine intervention. They stressed that the long absence of the lawmaker, who they said transformed Aninri LGA and gave a new lease of life to thousands, was already affecting them.

 

The IMPL, an assembly of individuals who were empowered by Senator Ekweremadu through sponsorship of their education and securing of jobs in different spheres of life, said Ikeoha was a big tree and his fall would spell doom for thousands. The President General of the Association, Chijioke Benjamin Ezekwe, told newsmen that the conviction of Senator Ekweremadu and his wife based on certain mistakes made in trying to save their ailing daughter did not in any way represent their true character.

 

Ezekwe, who was among the thousands of people that benefited from the Ikeoha Foundation Education Scheme of the Senator said his contributions to humanity and the development of Africa at large should be considered by the UK Government.

 

The IMPL President maintained that the calls for mercy on the Ekweremadus which are coming from every quarter of Africa and the globe were enough testimonies that Ike Ekweremadu remains a role model for generations to come.

 

The people of Mpu community and Aninri in general gathered for a prayer vigil to cry out to God to deliver their son, whom they described as the backbone of the community and a philanthropist. Leading the prayer, the pastor in charge of Ancient Path Revival Assembly Mpu, Nathaniel Nwankwo, maintained that the community had not relented in praying and crying to God for help, mercy, and intervention, knowing that sentencing is around the corner.

 

The traditional ruler of Amokofia Mpu, Igwe Cyprian Ije, said that sentencing Senator Ekweremadu would be an end to an era and appealed to the Federal Government and other well-meaning Nigerians to lend their voices to ensure his release.

 

The royal father lamented that so many indigent students under Ikeoha scholarship scheme have discontinued their studies due to lack of funds while the town had become a ghost of itself since his arrest in June last year.

 

A woman leader, Lolo Happiness Aja, who spoke on behalf of the women, appealed to the UK Government to temper justice with mercy, even for the sake of Sonia whose hope for survival largely depends on her parents.