Ike Ekweremadu, a prominent Nigerian politician and former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, has been convicted of engaging in organ trafficking along with his wife and a doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta.
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The trio conspired to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London with the intention of exploiting him for his kidney. They planned to use the young man as a donor for the senator’s daughter, Sonia Ekweremadu, who reportedly had a kidney disease.
Ekweremadu, his wife, and the doctor treated the man and other potential donors as disposable assets, engaging in an emotionally cold commercial transaction. They were found guilty of conspiring to bring the man to London for exploitation and for defying modern slavery legislation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.
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The prosecutor in the case, Hugh Davies KC, told the court that Ekweremadu, who helped draw up Nigeria’s laws against organ trafficking, had agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter, somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries. Davies added that Ekweremadu’s actions were criminal, and that they sowed entitlement, dishonesty, and hypocrisy. The trio was found guilty of defying modern slavery legislation, and Ekweremadu was found guilty of conspiring to bring the man to London for exploitation.
During the trial, it was revealed that medics at the London Royal Free Hospital rejected the man, saying he was not a suitable match for Sonia. Ekweremadu was asked why he did not find a suitable match among his family members, to which he responded that it wasn’t an option for them.
He admitted to making an agreement through agents to recruit a donor who would donate a kidney to his daughter for a reward. His wife denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, but WhatsApp messages showed that Obeta charged Ekweremadu 4.5 million naira (about £8,000) for an agent fee and a donor fee. The judge in the case said Ekweremadu failed to heed medical advice to find a donor for his daughter among genuine family members.