Former Nigerian Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice, 56, were sentenced to prison in the United Kingdom for organ trafficking.
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Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and their doctor, Obinna Obeta, were found culpable of violating the Modern Slavery Act.

The court found the trio guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.

They criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found.

The organ donor had been offered an illegal reward to become a donor for the senator’s daughter after kidney disease forced her to drop out of a master’s degree in film at Newcastle University, the court heard.
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Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison; his wife, Beatrice, was sentenced to four years and six months of imprisonment; and Obeta received a ten-year prison term.

Justice Johnson told the defendants: “In each of your cases, the offence you committed is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified.”

The case marked the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ harvesting conspiracy.
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