Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Dr. Obinna Obeta have all received prison sentences from a judge at The Central Criminal Court, widely known as the Old Bailey.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu received a sentence of nine years and eight months in prison, his wife Beatrice received a sentence of four years and six months in prison, and Obeta was given a sentence of ten years in prison and had his medical licence revoked.
Following their conviction for organ trafficking in March, they were sentenced. Sonia, the ill daughter of the Ekweremadus, was exonerated of all charges.
Following their involvement in helping a young Nigerian man enter the country in order to donate his kidney to Sonia, the three were convicted guilty of their crimes.
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The jury found that Ekweremadu, his wife, and their doctor had illegally planned to go to London with the 21-year-old street vendor from Lagos in order to swap him for a kidney.
Following appeals from numerous well-known individuals and organisations, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the conviction—the first under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015—was obtained.
The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), and both chambers of the National Assembly served as additional petitioners.
On June 23, 2022, after their arrest was made public, the Ekweremadus were charged. On July 13, 2022, Obeta was later charged. The senator was turned down for bail while his wife was accepted.
Following a lengthy pre-trial, the trial started on January 31, 2023, and it continued for almost six weeks before Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta were found guilty.
