APEX Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has disagreed with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, that the Federal Government of Nigeria will not interfere with any local or international legal battle involving the former Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu.
The Senator is currently facing trial for alleged organ harvesting in the United Kingdom (UK) and has been in custody for the last two months.
Malami had, however, stated that it had never been in the tradition of Federal Government to interfere in anything judicial, local or international.
Disagreeing with the Minister, Ohanaeze, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, insisted that Nigeria had, at different times, relied on her diplomatic relations to intervene in cases involving her citizens, insisting that Ekweremadu’s issue is not different.
Ohanaeze noted that cultural relativism is a vital factor in international relations, stressing: “It connotes that norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated using the norms and values of another,” adding that “sovereign nations usually interfere to save their citizens in foreign countries.”
The statement reads: “In the case involving Ekweremadu, recall that the former Deputy President of the Senate had written to the UK High Commission to support a visa application of a ‘donor’ listed as David Nwamini. In the letter, Ekweremadu made a full disclosure that Nwamini was undergoing “medical investigations for a kidney donation to his daughter.” The full name of the UK hospital was also stated and there was nothing shady. Ekweremadu’s letter to the British Embassy was unequivocal. He indicated the purpose of his travel and also requested the embassy to grant visa to Nwamini for a stated purpose. We view Ekweremadu’s full disclosure as a proof of non-criminal intent.
“We are persuaded to join Sadiq Obanoyen and others to ask if it is not unacceptable or even a conspiracy on the part of the British government to issue a visa to Nwamini, following full disclosure by the Senator that he was travelling to the UK for organ donation, but only to charge him and his wife for facilitating an illegality? In other words, would it not have been fair and just to refuse visa to Nwamini in the first place, citing the UK modern slavery legislation, especially as the UK is never known to be so generous with visa to Nigerians?”
Source: Guardian.ng
