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.
