The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, UK, has sentenced Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president, to nine years and eight months in prison for organ trafficking.
His wife, Beatrice, was handed four years and six months jail term while Obinna Obeta, a medical doctor got a 10 years’ sentence for the same offence during the sentencing on Friday as reported by BBC

On March 23, the jury pronounced a guilty verdict on the senator, his wife, Beatrice, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor who acted as the middleman.

Recall the trio of Ekweremadu, Beatrice and Obeta were convicted of conspiracy to arrange the travel of a young Nigerian man who was identified as David Nwamini to Britain in order to exploit him for his kidney.
The organ was needed for Ekweremadu’s sick daughter, Sonia.

Their trial lasted for six weeks and conviction at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, is expected today.

Ekweremadu is a senator for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for Enugu state in southeast Nigeria. He has been held in custody in the UK since his arrest. His wife and daughter are on conditional bail.

In Britain, it is legal to donate a kidney, but not for reward. Prosecutors say regardless of whether the Lagos street trader gave his consent, a crime was committed by the wealthy Nigerians.

During the trial;

The accuser is said to have gone to UK police after finally refusing to consent to the procedure, following preliminary tests at a north London hospital in February 2022.

A consultant doctor at the London hospital said the young man had “limited understanding” of why he was there and was “visibly relieved” on being told the transplant would not go ahead, prosecutor Hugh Davies said.

Ekweremadu told the court on Monday Sonia was doing a master’s degree at Newcastle University when she started experiencing “swollen limbs” in December 2019.

She was later diagnosed with a “kidney issue”, and was said to have withdrawn from her studies after she “collapsed” in class.

Ekweremadu said his daughter’s deteriorating condition was “scary“, adding: “Medicines she was getting (were) not essentially working, so her situation was getting worse.”