Article summary
- Ike Ekweremadu, former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, and his wife were sentenced to prison terms of 9 years and 8 months, and 4 years and 6 months respectively by the UK Central Criminal Court for their role in an organ trafficking plot.
- A doctor, Obinna Obeta, involved in the plot was also sentenced to 10 years in prison, with his medical license suspended.
- The trio were found guilty in March for facilitating the travel of a young Nigerian man to the UK to exploit him for his kidney.
The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, United Kingdom (UK) has sentenced Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice and their Doctor, Obinna Obeta, for organ trafficking plot.
The UK court at the sentencing hearing on Friday, jailed Ekweremadu for nine years and eight months, his wife Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment while Obeta received a 10-year prison term, with his medical licence also suspended.
The sentencing follows their conviction in March for organ trafficking. However, the Ekweremadus’ sick daughter, Sonia, was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The three were found guilty after arranging or facilitating a young Nigerian man’s travel into the United Kingdom in a bid to obtain his kidney on behalf of Sonia.
The jury said Ekweremadu, his wife and their doctor criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.
The verdict is considered the first of its kind under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015.
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Recall that on June 23, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, were arrested in the United Kingdom for an alleged organ harvesting offence. The couple was arrested in June by the Metropolitan police on allegations of trafficking a 21-year-old for the purpose of organ harvesting.
They were accused of plotting to traffic 21-year-old David Ukpo from Nigeria to the United Kingdom to transplant his organs to their daughter suffering from kidney failure.
The alleged victim had claimed he was 15 and that he was brought to donate his kidney without his consent. However, records provided by the NIMC proved that the boy was 21 years old and not the 15 years he had claimed.
Meanwhile, Ekweremadu’s wife was on July 28, granted bail by the court.
The Central Criminal Court, London, also known as Old Bailey, in a pre-trial hearing, said it was denying Ike Ekweremadu bail on the grounds that he was a flight risk and would flee the country.
The UK court had in March 2023 found Ike Ekweremadu, Â his wife Beatrice and medical doctor, Obinna Obetan guilty under the Modern Slavery Act and subsequently convicted.
