Former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and their middleman medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, will be sentenced today for their involvement in organ trafficking. They were convicted in March under the Modern Slavery Act, marking the first verdict of its kind.
Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Obeta, 51, were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young man, identified as David Nwamini, by arranging his travel to Britain to donate his kidney to Ekweremadu’s sick daughter, Sonia.
After a six-week trial at London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, the Ekweremadus and their doctor face a possible ten-year jail term for violating the Modern Slavery Act. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, will pass the sentence.
During the trial, prosecutor Hugh Davies KC argued that Ekweremadu and Obeta treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward,” engaging in an “emotionally cold commercial transaction.” Davies also criticized Ekweremadu’s behavior, saying that he showed “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy.” He argued that Ekweremadu’s actions were not simply motivated by the clinical needs of his daughter, but were exploitative and criminal.
Ekweremadu denied the charge, claiming that he was the victim of a scam. Obeta also denied the charge, claiming that the man was not offered a reward for his kidney and was acting altruistically. Beatrice denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, and Sonia did not give evidence.
In recent days, the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) have written letters to the British authorities seeking leniency for Ekweremadu. Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has also written to the British authorities, pleading on behalf of the legislator.
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