UK Court Sentences Ekweremadu, Wife, 1 Other To 26 Years Imprisonment
Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta,
The Old Bailey Court in London, United Kingdom, on Friday afternoon, sentenced a former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice and a middleman, Dr. Obinna Obeta, to 26 years imprisonment over organ harvesting charge.
Ekweremadu is to serve about ten years in prison, his wife is to serve six years and Dr. Obeta will serve 10 years in prison, bringing the total years to be spent by the trio in confinement to 26 years.
Herald Reporters gathered that Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56 and Obeta, 51, were convicted of conspiracy to arrange the travel of a young man, addressed as David Nwamini to Britain in order to exploit him for his kidney, which was needed for the lawmaker’s sick daughter, Sonia.
After a six-week trial and conviction at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, the Ekweremadus and their doctor were convicted for violating the Modern Slavery Act with the judge, Jeremy Johnson, passing the sentence on Friday.
Recall that the prosecutor Hugh Davies KC told the court that Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”. He said they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man.
Davies told the jury that the behaviour of Ekweremadu showed “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”.
He said Ekweremadu, who owns several properties and had a staff of 80, “agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter – somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries, and with whom, for his own political protection, he wanted no direct contact”.
Davies added, “What he agreed to do was not simply expedient in the clinical interests of his daughter, Sonia, it was exploitation, it was criminal. It is no defence to say he acted out of love for his daughter. Her clinical needs cannot come at the expense of the exploitation of somebody in poverty.”
Ekweremadu, who denied the charge, told the court he was the victim of a scam. Obeta, who also denied the charge, claimed the man was not offered a reward for his kidney and was acting altruistically. Beatrice denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy. Sonia did not give evidence.
In the last few days the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) had written letters to the British Authorities seeking leniency for the embattled lawmaker. Prior to this, the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo had also written to the British authorities pleading on behalf of the legislator, but all now appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.
