Ike Ekweremadu, former Deputy Senate President turns 62 today and though he is locked up in a UK prison where he is serving a term alongside his wife, close friends and allies have joined his family in celebrating the person of the Enugu-born politician.
One of his allies, Ostia Chidoka in a public post to celebrate Ekweremadu’s birthday today wrote.. “You are a loyal friend, a good husband, and a great father. I am proud of you, grateful to know you, and happy that you prioritised fatherhood. You live your love of family and pay the price for love. Today, you mark 62 years. We would have been at your house eating and laughing. We will eat today, but we will not laugh. We will drink, but we will not be raucous because……To all friends and admirers: Ike and Nwanneka are in good spirits. They know that ….this, too, shall come to pass. Their back may be bent, but their spirits are not broken.”
A UK court had a year ago (May 2023) sentenced Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months in prison. The court also sentenced his wife, Beatrice, to four years and six months in jail. They were found guilty of organ trafficking offenses, having procured a 21-year-old Nigerian who they flew him to the UK with the intention to harvest his kidney for their sick daughter. Notable individuals and organizations including the Nigerian parliament and ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, among others, had pleaded for leniency for the Ekweremadus before their sentences.