Former media aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has expressed empathy towards the former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice after they were sentenced in the UK for their involvement in an organ trafficking crime.
In a tweet on Friday, Omokri said,
“I do not support what Ike Ekweremadu and his wife did. But I empathise with them. May God never permit me to be in the same position. I do not know what I would do in such circumstances. May the Almighty provide relief to the Ekweremadus. In Yeshua’s name,” News About Nigeria reports.
Omokri also appealed to the incoming administration not to abandon the Ekweremadus, stating,
“They are not bad people. They were just fated with an unfortunate situation, to which nobody can really say how they would have responded.”
Ekweremadu was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison, while Dr Obinna Obeta was sentenced to 10 years for their involvement in the crime.
Ekweremadu, his wife, and Obeta were found guilty of conspiring to arrange the travel of a young man to the UK to exploit him for his body parts.
Omokri’s appeal to the incoming government not to let the couple rot in a foreign jail is significant, as Ekweremadu is a prominent politician in Nigeria and a member of the opposition party.
The former Deputy Senate President and his wife have not yet responded to Omokri’s empathy or the sentencing.
While some Nigerians share Omokri’s sentiment, many others are outraged that anyone would show empathy towards people who were convicted of such a heinous crime.
