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Tag: Sen Ike Ekweremadu

Allege Organ Harvesting: AGAIN, Court Rejects Ekweremadu’s Bail Application
The Central Criminal Court, London, also known as Old Bailey, has again denied bail to former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
In the pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, the court gave its verdict denying the bail on the grounds that he was a flight risk.
It was learned that the court cited the letter and assets forfeiture proceedings against the senator by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In the bail application, Ekweremadu’s lawyer had argued that the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Attorney-General of the Federal had written to the court that Ekweremadu was not a flight risk.
His defense also argued that a guarantee to produce him should he pose a flight risk was given and that the Nigeria High Commission in the UK had equally given the option of tagging Ekweremadu electronically to monitor his movement.
Referring to attestation of Ekweremadu’s character by respected Nigerians and organisations, his lawyer also argued that the lawmaker had proven to be a caring and responsible father and could not escape from London, abandoning his wife and sick daughter.
The defense further told the court that they had sureties and securities of nearly half a million pounds sterling from 11 people to secure Ekweremadu’s release on bail.
Stating that Ekweremadu was a highly regarded, well-known public figure, his defense also referred to Ekweremadu’s involvement in some global humanitarian courses.
However, the prosecution insisted that Ekweremadu was a flight risk contending that as a holder of international passports from two other countries, the lawmaker could escape to any of the other countries asides from Nigeria.
The prosecution also cited the 18th July 2022 letter by the EFCC signed on behalf of the Executive Chairman, Abdulraheed Bawa, by the Assistant Director Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkoi, and referred to the assets forfeiture proceedings against Ekweremadu in the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Refusing the bail application, the Judge said, “I am entirely satisfied there remains a flight risk,” noting that bail would not make much difference “as the trial is just over a month away.”
It was reported that Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), claimed that the EFCC truncated Ekweremadu’s bail application in July.
Amongst other things, Awomolu also accused the EFCC of dishonestly obtaining an interim assets forfeiture order against the lawmaker by withholding vital information from Justice Inyang Ekpo.
However, the EFCC dismissed the allegations through its lawyer, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), saying it was a mere coincidence.
The trial of the Ekweremadus will now begin on 31st January 2023.
December 21, 2022
Sen. Ekweremadu Debunks Report Of Arrest By EFCC
The former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday, debunked reports that he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Senator Ekweremadu through his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, assured his supporters that there was nothing to worry about.
He said the report, like others before it, represented only the “unholy imagination of the authors and their sponsors”
“My attention has been called to a fake story making the round purporting that I was arrested by the EFCC. I could not have bothered about such spurious tales, but for the concerns shown by my friends and supporters through calls and messages.
“There was no such arrest and I have never been arrested by the EFCC.
“The public should, therefore, ignore this and other such hatchet reports and smear campaigns as they only represent the unholy imaginations of the authors and their sponsors”, the statement added.
October 7, 2021
Sen. Ekweremadu Proposes Political Solution To Nnamdi Kanu’s Detention
Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has proposed a political solution to ensure the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
He believes this can be achieved as the South-East Caucus in the National Assembly moves to intervene in the matter.
“We expect that ultimately, we find a political solution in respect of Nnamdi Kanu’s problem,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s Hard Copy which aired on Friday.
“In the past, we have done similar things. What we want to see is to make sure that the Federal Government understands the feeling of our people.”
“It is not easy to predict right now, but what we want to see is to reduce tension in the South-East,” the lawmaker said in response to a question about the motive of the caucus to intervene in the matter.
The lawmaker recalled when the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He explained that during the administration of former President Musa Yar’Adua, he visited the late leader, alongside some senators, who invited the then minister of justice – a political development that led to Uwazuruike’s release.
“When Uwazuruike was detained by Obasanjo, there was tension until Yar’Adua came… eventually, we ended up in a political solution and Uwaruzuike was released. The same thing with Nnamdi Kanu, when he was detained, I also led a delegation to meet the President.
“We expect that just as we had some results in the past, maybe we should come out with something that should be acceptable by all the parties,” Ekweremadu added.
Calls for a separate state of Biafra are a sensitive subject in the country after a unilateral declaration of independence in 1967 sparked a brutal 30-month civil war.
More than one million people died, most of them Igbos, from the impact of conflict, hunger and disease.
Recently, the South-East region witnessed a chain of violence with attacks on several police stations and electoral facilities – incidents which authorities blamed on IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). But IPOB has repeatedly denied responsibility.
As Nigeria grapples with the call for a breakaway of a large chunk of the South East, another agitation has erupted in the South West for a Yoruba nation.
September 18, 2021