Nigeria’s lawyer and social commentator has waded into Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s case, urging the newly crowned King Charles III to extend his act of clemency on them.
Sunrise News recalled that Senator Ekweremadu, his wife and their doctor and consultant, were on Friday, 24 hours before the coronation of King Charles III, sentenced to various jail terms by the Old Baily’s Central Court for complicity in organ harvesting.
Ajulo, a successful Abuja based lawyer who joined his voice to hundreds who were pleading for clemency on the former Nigerian Deputy Senate President, urged the King, to exercise his prerogative to extend mercy on the embattled parliamentarian and pardon him.
His letter dated May 6, 2023, reads:
His Majesty, The King
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A1AA.
Your Majesty,
LETTER OF CONGRATULATIONS AND A PLEA FOR INVOCATION OF THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE OF MERCY FOR THE NIGERIAN DEPUTY SENATE PRESIDENT, DR. IKE EKWEREMADU, CON, AND WIFE, BEATRICE EKWEREMADU.
What hath this day deserv’d ? what hath it done That it in golden letters should be set Among the high tides in the calendar? “
King Charles III is coronated!
Your Majesty, as the trumpets sound and the crowds cheer, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you, His Majesty King Charles III, on this momentous occasion of your coronation as The King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms on this historic day, 6th of May, 2023.
As a resident, professional and investor of Great Britain and citizen of the Commonwealth, I appreciate the significance of this esteemed ceremony and your ascension unto the throne of your bloodline as the King and Sovereign of England- a Crown adorned with not only the most precious of pearls but also a legacy of centuries-old traditions, customs, duties and obligations. An embodiment of power, history, and tradition.
Reminiscing on the remarkable life of your beloved mother of blessed memory, Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth Ii, a colossus who held the fort, dutifully served for seven decades progressing and navigating gracefully through different forms of civilisations and its unending puzzles in service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, there is no doubt that your Majesty is surely equipped with the grace, and strength to execute all duties and obligations that come with the throne.
The world at large is indeed enthusiastic about witnessing Your Majesty’s reign as the Sovereign Monarch, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces.
Your Majesty, though invigorated by your coronation I witness the same with mixed emotions as this time and chance have been unfavourable to many in Nigeria, a country blessed with over 100 people, as a prominent Nigerian and Former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was yesterday, 5th May 2023, sentenced to nine (9) years and Eight (8) months imprisonment by an Old Bailey Court, alongside his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu who was equally sentenced to four (4) years and six (6) month imprisonment for organ trafficking.
The chronicle of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, is a sad one that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It is one of the “desperate” parents in their quest to save the life of their daughter Sonia Ekweremadu who is in dire need of a Kidney transplant but went about the mission in the most unsavoury of ways.
In my random reflection, Senator Ekweremadu must have chosen to not publicly advertise for a kidney donor to avoid swindlers who could take undue advantage of his daughter’s ailment. But again, took the objectionable approach.
I seek to not bore Your Majesty with the long account of what transpired since it headlines every tabloid, news station and newspaper, and I also know that your docket is filled with stately matters seeking your attention.
Though some concerned Nigerians and institutions have written to the Court in the United Kingdom for leniency on Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife. As a legal professional and as prescribed by law, I do not subscribe to such interference with justice as the appropriate step should have been to direct all letters as a form of allocutus through the defence attorney in the circumstance of the case.
Your Majesty, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife have been convicted and sentenced accordingly and I plead that you graciously and mercifully invoke the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in favour of the couple.
This exclusive power in the British tradition is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the monarch to grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. It has, officially, been a power of the monarch in the commonwealth realms.
Through time, this prerogative has been wielded to the benefit of convicted persons by one of your revered forebears King George I and your beloved mother whom you so much love and adore, Queen Elizabeth II, at instances of which though not exhaustive. I shall proceed to list below:
• In 1717, King George I’s Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates was issued, promising a general pardon to those pirates who surrendered to the authorities.
• In 2001, two inmates at HMP Prescoed, South Wales, received early release under the prerogative of mercy as a reward for saving the life of the manager of the prison farm when he was attacked and gored by a captive wild boar.
• In 2013, a posthumous pardon was awarded to Alan Turing under the prerogative of mercy. Wartime codebreaker Turing had been convicted in 1952 of gross indecency for a consensual homosexual relationship with an adult.
• In 2020, the royal prerogative of mercy was used to reduce the minimum tariff that must be served before Steven Gallant could be considered for release on parole. Gallant, who was serving life imprisonment for murder, was granted this reduction the in the sentence “in recognition of his exceptionally brave actions at Fishmongers’ Hall, which helped save people’s lives despite the tremendous risk to his own” while confronting terrorist Usman Khan during the 2019 London Bridge attack.
Your Majesty, the above correspondence is to reinforce the plea for clemency in favour of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Beatrice Ekweremadu on their sentencing.
Like some words in Portia’s popular ‘The Quality of Mercy’ speech in William Shakespeare’s The ‘Merchant of Venice’
“The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute of awe and majesty
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God Himself;”
Your Majesty, the case of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife is sui generis, as they acted under an impulsive thought of parental love and concern for their daughter’s predicament without deep introspection before subsequent actions and thereby made the meeting gravely wrong.
But as the Sovereign Monarch, the King of England, I humbly plead that you extend your sceptre and grant the royal prerogative of pardon for the year 2023 to Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, I believe that this act of benevolence will not only strengthen the ties between the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Nigeria but will also go down in history as the great humanitarian act, placing your Majesty’s reign at the zenith and would be hailed crossed all lands as King Charles III, The Merciful.
Your Majesty, I am not lobbying this rare privilege without acknowledging and commending the British Empire’s consistent fight against slavery and protection of the vulnerable since it has been pronounced illegal across the British Empire in 1807.
Even as modern slavery and human trafficking have grown dramatically in recent years with The Global Slavery Index estimating that there are over 40 million people in slavery around the world, the United Kingdom has remained the leading light in the fight against any form of slavery with the crime being constituted within the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”) by the offences of “slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour” and in “human trafficking”. I also salute your government and country in coming to the aid of the victims of the crime.
However, I, together with my team, would sincerely be appreciative and extremely joyous to receive a favourable response in regards to the above plea for the family of Ekweremadu- even more, than we felt when we received your beautiful card and kind words in response to our letter of condolence on the passage of your beloved and highly extolled mother, Queen Elizabeth II, (May honour continue to follow her name) whom I consider a rare gift to the world.
While I congratulate Your Majesty once again on your taking the mantle of leadership of a nation steeped in history, culture, and diversity. May this day mark the beginning of a long and prosperous reign, filled with wisdom, compassion, peace and strength, as the King and Sovereign read the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms through the challenges and triumphs of the years to come.
I have the honour to be Sire, your Majesty’s humble and obedient liege. Long may you live King Charles III, The Merciful.
God save the King!
Signed
Dr Olukayode Ajulo, FCIArb.UK
kayodeajulo@castleoflaw.com