LONDON – On Thursday, a Nigerian politician of great means and his spouse were convicted of trafficking a Lagos Street merchant to Britain for the purpose of illicitly extracting a kidney to be used for a transplant for their daughter, who was critically ill.
The prosecution alleged that Ike Ekweremadu, aged 60, and his wife Beatrice, aged 56, had lured the man to London in February 2019 with the promise of remuneration in the thousands of dollars for his organ and the assurance of employment in the United Kingdom.
Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President and opposition Senator of the southern Nigerian state of Enugu, and his wife were deemed significant figures in Nigerian society who possessed power, influence and a “significant degree of wealth,” according to London’s Old Bailey court.
Obinna Obeta, 51, a Nigerian doctor and alleged middle man, was one of two people who were convicted of conspiring to arrange the travel of another person for the purpose of exploitation.
“This was a horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney,” said Joanne Jakymec, Chief Crown Prosecutor.
“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 limited understanding of what was really going on here.”
Sonia Ekweremadu, the intended recipient of the organ with a serious kidney condition necessitating dialysis, was acquitted of any involvement in the plan.
The man, who had been earning a livelihood in Lagos peddling phone components from a stall in the marketplace, alerted the authorities after claiming he had been trafficked and somebody was attempting to extract his kidney.
The proposed transplant was ultimately not carried out due to the apprehension of a consultant at London’s Royal Free hospital, who had doubts about the anonymous donor of approximately 21 years of age, whom the family had attempted to claim as the cousin of Sonia, for legal reasons.
Donating a kidney is not unlawful in Britain but it is a criminal offence to offer a reward, regardless of whether the donor is complicit.
“There are however certain things that money and status cannot guarantee in any family, and they include good health,” prosecutor Hugh Davies had told the court.
The police declared that the guilty verdicts represented the first conviction for human trafficking for organ harvesting in the United Kingdom.
“This conviction sends out a clear message across the world, the UK will not tolerate the international industry in illegal organ removal,” Detective Inspector Esther Richardson said in a statement.
Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu and Obeta will be sentenced at on May 5.
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