On Friday, 5th of May 2023, a United Kingdom (UK) court passed judgement on the kidney harvesting case against Nigeria’s former deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.
The duo and their accomplice, a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were punished with jail terms after they were found guilty of conspiring to bring a trader in Lagos to the UK to harvest his organ for the politician’s 25-year-old daughter, Sonia, OsunDaily News reports.
Ekweremadu was handed nine years and eight months jail term, and Beatrice bagged four years, and six months jail term, while the doctor involved, Obeta, will serve ten years and his license revoked.
“People-trafficking across international borders for the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery,” the judge at London’s Old Bailey criminal court, Jeremy Johnson, said, describing the act as a “despicable trade” and an attempt to take advantage of the “poverty, misery and desperation” of vulnerable people.
Victim’s Bravery
Ekweremadu and his wife’s ordeal began after their victim, a 21-year-old from Lagos, Nigeria, summoned the courage to report the family at a police station in the UK.
The victim, whose name could not be mentioned in print for legal reasons, had told authorities that the Ekweremadus had flown him to Britain to harvest his kidney.
He claimed the kidney was intended for Sonia, who remains on dialysis with a renal condition, in return for up to £7,000 ($8,800).
The young man further told the police that he was recruited by a doctor working for the politician and had thought he was coming to the UK to work. He only realised it was for a kidney transplant when he was taken to London’s Royal Free Hospital last year, the court was told.
He fled and slept on the streets for three days after doctors there told him he would not be a suitable donor following preliminary tests.
The testimony at the court said the victim eventually found his way into a police station last May and said he was “looking for someone to save my life”.
Lawyers for the four accused had insisted he was acting “altruistically”, and Ike Ekweremadu told jurors that he feared he was being “scammed”.
Organ Harvesting: Ekweremadu And Wife Arrested
OsunDaily News recalls that Ekweremadu and his family were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 and subsequently arraigned in court for conspiring to bring the victim to London to exploit him for his kidney.
They were alleged to have attempted to convince doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London to perform an £80,000 transplant on the donor who was presented as Sonia’s cousin.
However, during the trial, Ekweremadu and his wife apologised for claiming that the donor was a relative. Hugh Davies, the prosecutor, argued at the court that Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”.
Before today’s court verdict, Ekweremadus’ daughter, Sonia, got pardoned as she was cleared of the same charge after jurors deliberated for nearly 14 hours.
The 25-year-old lady, unfortunately, waved to her parents in tears on Friday as they were led out of the court, OsunDaily News reports.
Ekweremadu, Wife Escape Life Imprisonment
Organ harvesting is a severe crime in Britain. However, OsunDaily News understands the maximum punishment for the offence is a life sentence.
Donating a kidney in Britain is legal, but it is a punishable crime for financial or material reward. Ekweremadu and family’s case is said to be the first report of organ harvesting conspiracy charges brought under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act, this news platform understands.
Recall that Ekweremadu represented the Enugu West constituency in southeast Nigeria for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 2003.
Notable persons and groups from Nigeria have from the beginning of the trial till the last hour of the UK court’s verdict today, pleaded for leniency on the former lawmaker.
The Nigerian Senate also joined in the plea for leniency for the former Deputy Senate President and his wife, Beatrice, ahead of their sentencing in the United Kingdom (UK).
OsunDaily News understands that the decision of the upper legislative chamber followed a motion sponsored by the Senate Minority Whip, Chukwuka Utazi.
The lawmakers asked the UK court to temper justice with mercy in the sentencing of the lawmaker, which was scheduled for Friday, May 5, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London.
The leaders in Nigeria’s parliament in their plea argued that Ekweremadu was a first-time offender who had made valuable contributions to politics in West Africa.
However, the UK court gave its verdicts today and Ekweremadu and his wife and their accomplice are expected to serve the jail terms accordingly.
Ekweremadu is 60 years of age at the time he was sentenced to prison, OsunDaily News reports.
