A Court in London has sentenced the former deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months imprisonment for organ trafficking.
The fate of the Nigeria’s lawmaker was decided on Friday May 5th at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, United Kingdom.
A foreign news medium, BBC reported that the court sentenced the lawmaker’s wife to four years and six months imprisonment.
The court on March 23 declared the parliamentarian, his wife Beatrice and a doctor who served as a middleman Obinna guilty.
The court maintained that they collaborated efforts to take a 21 year old Nigerian to London to exploit his kidney.
They allegedly wanted to seek the support of the foreign doctors to exploit the kidney of the young Nigerian who was introduced as the cousin of their daughter — Sonia.
The judgment passed by the jury was the first of its kind as far as the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the UK is concerned.
The London Metropolitan Police arrested the lawmaker and his wife in June 2022.
Report has it that they wanted to convince doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London to do an £80,000 transplant.
The Court maintained that the actions of the Ekweremadus and the concerned doctor was to treat the young Nigerian as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”.
The court also established that they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the young Nigerian man, with an offer of £7,000 as reward.
The couple falsified all allegations against them but apologized for introducing the young Nigerian man as their daughter’s cousin.
Obeta said the donor was not to be given any monetary compensation but was just trying to show kindness to the family of the lawmaker.
The Court did not convict the 25 year old daughter of the lawmaker Sonia following her presentation of a medical report to prove herself unfit for medical trial.
The Informant247 recalls that some top ranking political figures had called on the authorities of the UK to be merciful with Ekweremadu.
Among those who had persuaded the UK authorities to be linient with the former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).
The Nigeria’s Senate, House of Representatives, and other regional organizations had told the UK government to “temper justice with mercy” and consider what he has contributed to the development of Nigeria and West Africa.