Jailed one-time Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, offered $80,000 to David Nwamini Ukpo to donate his organ to his daughter, Sonia, at London’s Royal Free Hospital, the London Old Bailey Court said on Friday.
Persecondnews had reported earlier that Ekweremadu, who was described by the judge as the “driving force throughout”, was sentenced to nine years and eight months imprisonment while his wife, Beatrice, was jailed for four years and six months due to her “limited involvement.”
Dr Obinna Obeta was also jailed for 10 years after the judge found out he had targeted the potential donor who was “young, poor, and vulnerable.”
The young boy, a poor street trader in Lagos, was brought to the UK to provide a kidney for the Ekweremadus’ daughter.
Ukpo had fled in fear for his life and walked into a police station exactly a year ago to report what had happened after the Royal Free Hospital called a halt on the private £80,000 procedure.
Delivering a televised sentence on Friday, Mr Justice Johnson recognized Ike Ekweremadu’s “substantial fall from grace”.
He described the politician as someone of high office with multiple properties, domestic staff, maids, chefs and drivers compared with the victim, who could not afford a £25 ticket to travel to Abuja.
Persecondnews recalls that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and the ECOWAS Court and others had written to UK authorities, seeking clemency for Ekweremadu, and his wife found guilty of organ trafficking in the U.K.
The judge said while it is lawful to donate a kidney, it becomes criminal if there is a reward of money or other material advantages.
He described organ harvesting as a “despicable trade” stressing that the risks were not properly explained to the victim and he was “deceived and pressurized” into donating a kidney.
The judge also said, “the horrific plot to exploit David Nwamini Ukpo was due to the influence and power Ekweremadu possesses.”
He said: “The wealth and power inequality between you and he (the donor) could not be more vast.
“In each of your cases, the offense you committed is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified.”
Counsel to Beatrice Ekweremadu had pleaded by pointing out that she has already spent 200 days in custody and says any long sentence would have a “significant impact” on her daughter Sonia, who already felt guilty for what has happened.
Persecondnews earlier reported that an investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offenses under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
Under Section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act (MSA), an individual commits an offense if they arrange or facilitate the travel of another with a view to that person being exploited, adding that It is irrelevant whether that person consents to the travel, or whether they are a child or an adult.
Section 3 of MSA listed one of the forms of exploitation to include “the removal of organs where a person is encouraged, required or expected to do anything which involves the commission of an offense under ss 32 or 33 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 (prohibition of commercial dealings in organs and restrictions on the use of live donors);” as well as securing services from children and vulnerable persons.
The Ekweremadus and the doctor will be the first-time defendants who have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ harvesting conspiracy.
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