The former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, his 56-year-old spouse Beatrice and Dr. Obinna Obeta, 51, convicted of conspiring to exploit David Nwamini will be sentenced on May 5.
The 60-year-old, his wife and the medical doctor risk 10 years’ imprisonment in the court presided over by Justice Jeremy Johnson.
The trio were found guilty by the United Kingdom (UK) Magistrate’s Court of trafficking Nwamini from Nigeria to Britain to provide a kidney for Ekweremadu’s 25-year-old daughter, Sonia, a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Thursday.
Sonia was cleared of the same charge for which her parents and the Nigerian doctor were convicted.
Sonia, who had declined to give evidence, broke into tears as she was cleared by the jury.
She tearfully hugged her father who was remanded into custody with the others ahead of the May 5 sentencing.
The prosecution confirmed that the maximum sentence in the organ harvesting case is one of life.
After the convictions, Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Jakymec, described the conspiracy as a horrific plot.
She said: “This was a horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney.
“The convicted defendants showed utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health and well-being and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having a limited understanding of what was really going on here.”
The jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours to convict Ekweremadu, Beatrice and Obeta.
A detective inspector with the Metropolitan Police, Esther Richardson, commended the victim for his bravery in speaking against the offenders.
According to her, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and Human Tissue Authority teams “worked tirelessly” on the case, which is the first time that defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ-trafficking conspiracy.
The Ekweremadus and Dr. Obeta denied the charges against them.
The 60-year-old senator had been in custody since June 23, last year. His wife, who was arrested with him, was granted bail by a criminal court in London, shortly after their arrest.
Nwamini, a street trader from Lagos, was taken to the UK last year to provide a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, North London.
He claimed he was told to pretend to be Sonia’s cousin to get the transplant approved.
But a consultant working in the NHS hospital refused to remove the vital organ, having become suspicious because the volunteer kidney donor appeared initially ignorant of his mission.
Nwamini reportedly told police investigators he had no idea his kidney was to be removed until he was taken to the Royal Free to meet the surgeon.
He ran away, sleeping on the street for about three days, before walking into the Staines Police Station on May 5, 2022.
Ekweremadu, wife, doctor risk 10 years’ Jailing
Ekweremadu is at risk of being sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in line with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom after a London court found him and his wife, Beatrice, guilty of organ trafficking.
Following the guilty verdicts by Mr Justice Johnson, Ekweremadu and his wife were remanded in custody and await sentencing on May 5.
According to The Mirror, the duo faced the accusations along side a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, and their daughter, Sonia, who was cleared of charges after the jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours.
The Ekweremadus were arrested and had been in the custody of UK authorities after they received complaints from the young man about their alleged plans to harvest his organ.
According to Daily Mail, the young man, a trader from Lagos, was to be rewarded for donating a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 frowns on human trafficking under which organ harvesting falls.
According to the human trafficking offence in Section 2 Subsection 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person (“V”) with a view to V being exploited.
Subsection 2 states that it is irrelevant whether V consents to the travel (whether V is an adult or a child).
In Section 2 Subsection 7, the law stated that “a person who is not a UK national commits an offence under this section if any part of the arranging or facilitating takes place in the United Kingdom, or the travel consists of arrival in or entry into, departure from, or travel within, the United Kingdom.”
The penalties under the Act stated in Section 5 Subsection that a person guilty of an offence under section 1 or 2 is liable, (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
In Section 5 Subsection 2, a person guilty of an offence under Section 4 is liable (unless Subsection 3 applies), (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
Subsection 3 states that where the offence under Section 4 is committed by kidnapping or false imprisonment, a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
