Nigerian senator convicted of smuggling man to UK for kidney

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued a statement on Thursday stating that Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, and a medical consultant had been found guilty of trafficking a man to the UK for a kidney donation.

The Nigerian doctor Obinna Obeta, 51, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Ekweremadu, 60, were all found guilty in a British court of conspiring to take advantage of the gentleman from Lagos.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Jakymec described the conspiracy as “a horrible attempt to take advantage of a victim who was vulnerable by trafficking him to the UK for a kidney transplant.”

“The convicted offenders’ displayed complete contempt for the victim’s welfare, health, and wellbeing and utilized their enormous influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having little knowledge of what was truly going on in this case,” the court found.

Sonia, the daughter of the couple, was declared not guilty, according to CPS.

On May 5, the group will be convicted in the same court.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police noted that the guilty convictions marked the first time a person had been found guilty in Britain of trafficking people for the purpose of harvesting their organs.

In a statement, Detective Inspector Esther Richardson of the Met’s Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation division said, “This conviction sends out a strong message around the world, the UK will not tolerate the international industry in unlawful organ removal.”

Former Nigerian deputy senate president Ekweremadu hails from the state of Enugu in the southeast. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of the state twice on the Peoples Democratic Party platform, losing both times in the primary elections.

About one month before to his arrest in the UK, he made a second attempt.