The former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, is awaiting a landmark ruling in a UK court case over allegations of organ harvesting today. Ekweremadu has been accused of involvement in the illegal removal of organs from human trafficking victims in Nigeria. The case, which has been ongoing for several years, has attracted international attention due to the severity of the allegations.
He faces the charges alongside his wife, Beatrice and their middleman medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, following their conviction for organ trafficking in March, in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56 and Obeta, 51, were convicted of conspiracy to arrange the travel of a young man, addressed as David Nwamini to Britain in order to exploit him for his kidney, which was needed for the lawmaker’s sick daughter, Sonia.
In the first UK case of its kind, Ike Ekweremadu, 60, was found guilty in March at London’s Old Bailey criminal court of conspiring to traffic the young street trader into Britain for his body part.
In Britain, it is legal to donate a kidney, but not for financial or material reward.
It was the first time organ harvesting conspiracy charges had been brought under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act.
The maximum sentence under the legislation is life imprisonment.
Detective Inspector Esther Richardson, from the Metropolitan Police’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation Command, called it a “landmark conviction” and thanked the victim for his “bravery” in coming forward.
During the weeks-long trial, the 21-year-old victim from Lagos, who cannot be named for legal reasons, testified that the Ekweremadus had flown him to Britain to harvest his kidney.
The kidney was said to be intended for Sonia, who remains on dialysis with a renal condition, in return for up to £7,000 ($8,800).
The man said he had been 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.
He eventually walked into a police station last May and said he was “looking for someone to save my life”, the court heard.
Lawyers for the four accused insisted he was acting “altruistically”, and Ike Ekweremadu told jurors that he feared he was being “scammed”.
Ekweremadu has represented the Enugu West constituency in southeast Nigeria for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party since 2003.
In the last few days the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) had written letters to the British Authorities seeking leniency for the embattled lawmaker. Prior to this, the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has also written to the British authorities pleading on behalf of the legislator.