Former Nigerian Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has been jailed for conspiring to traffic a market trader to the UK to harvest his kidney.
Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and 25-year-old daughter Sonia stood trial accused of a conspiracy to bring the man to Britain from Lagos for his organ.
The couple, along with medical “middleman” Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, were found guilty in the Old Bailey in March.
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The Ekweremadus’ daughter Sonia, who has a serious kidney condition, wept as she was cleared of the same charge.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was jailed 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.
Justice Johnson told the defendants;
In each of your cases the offence you committed is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified.
On the question of harm to the victim, the judge said;
The transplant did not go ahead but each intended that it should go ahead and you each intended the harm to the donor that would result….
He would have faced spending the rest of his life with only one kidney and without the requisite funding for the required aftercare.
He added that the risks had not been properly explained to the victim and there had been no consent “in any meaningful sense”.
It was reported that the 21-year-old street vendor will receive payment for providing Sonia Ekweremadu with the organ during an £80,000 private treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
It was the first time defendants have been found guilty of an organ harvesting conspiracy under the Modern Slavery Act.
While giving a kidney is legal, it turns becomes a crime if money or some substantial benefit given in return.
The donor allegedly received up to £7,000 and the guarantee of a better life in the UK, according to the prosecution.
The Old Bailey was informed that the donor did not realise he was there for a kidney transplant until his first consultation with a hospital consultant.
Watch as Ike Ekweremadu gets sentenced in a British court.pic.twitter.com/oqiuEf5mrT
— Dami’ Adenuga (@DAMIADENUGA) May 5, 2023
