Skip to main content

Breaking! Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Wife, And A Doctor Guilty Of Organ Trafficking To The UK

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found 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.

The court found them guilty of criminally conspiring to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found.

The behaviour of Ekweremadu, a successful lawyer and founder of an anti-poverty charity who helped draw up Nigeria’s laws against organ trafficking, showed “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”, Davies told the jury.

                                Ike Ekweremadu

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.”

                            Beatrice Ekweremadu

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.

WhatsApp messages showed to the court revealed Obeta charged Ekweremadu 4.5m naira (about £8,000) made up of an “agent fee” and a “donor fee”.

Ekweremadu and Obeta admitted falsely claiming the man was Sonia’s cousin in his visa application and in documents presented to the hospital.

The 21-year-old street trader from Lagos was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, north London. He claimed he was told to pretend to be Sonia's cousin to get the transplant approved. 

But a consultant working in the NHS hospital refused to remove the vital organ having become suspicious because the young man appeared initially unaware he was the donor of the kidney and was clearly not 41 as his passport claimed. The Nigerian national would later tell police he had no idea his kidney was to be removed until he was taken to the Royal Free to meet the surgeon.

The victim, who cannot be named, later ran away, sleeping rough for three days, before walking into Staines Police Station on May 5 2022. He burst into tears as he told officers that he had been trafficked into the UK from Nigeria and that someone was trying to take one of his organs. 

The Old Bailey heard he believed he was being brought to the UK to earn money for his family. He was also taken for blood tests in Nigeria, which he believed were for his visa, but these were actually to determine if his kidney was a medically suitable match to Sonia Ekweremadu. 

The conspirators' plan was for the victim to provide a kidney to Sonia for between £2,400 and £7,000 and the promise of work in the UK. 

Beatrice and Sonia both burst into tears in the dock and hugged Ike as the unanimous verdicts were announced after 13 hours and 42 minutes.

He admitted lying on a Visa and to doctors by saying that Sonia and the donor were cousins.

He was arrested on a flight which had landed at Heathrow airport from Istanbul on 21 June 2022.

He has been in custody at HMP Thameside since his arrest.

Source UK Guardian and Daily Mail.co.uk

Comments

  1. So sad!!! This will be hard to bypass🫤🫤🫤

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

Nigeria Government-Identifies 96 Financiers Of Terror Groups

Nigeria says it has identified 96 sponsors of terror groups The Nigerian government on Thursday said it has uncovered 96 financiers of terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP). Nigeria’s information and culture minister Lai Mohammed made the disclosure at a press conference in Abuja. Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria,” Mohammed said. Mohammed said the NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping and others with 19 countries. The minister disclosed that 424 associates and supporters of the financiers were also uncovered. Mohammed said about 123 companies and 33 Bureau de change were linked to terrorists in addition to 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators who have now been identified. He disclosed that an “analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets.” Source: Guardian...

INEC-N305bn Required To Conduct 2023 Elections

On Monday 20th December, 2021, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu says the commission will require N305 billion to conduct the 2023 general elections. The INEC Boss, made this known in a statement during a meeting with the Senate Committee on Appropriation at the National Assembly. This amount will facilitate the electoral process by aiding the commission to prepare for the election. It will go a long way to assist in the purchase of all the election materials needed and also cover several bye-elections across the country. The INEC Chairman noted however that the commission has already received N100 billion out of the required amount for the elections. The National Assembly is yet to receive a letter from President Muhammad Buhari on his decision to give or withdraw his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. The 30-day deadline stipulated by the constitution for the President to respond to the bill expired on Sunday...

Pastor Bimbo Odukoya's Son, Jimmy Odukoya, Becomes Senior Pastor Of Fountain Of Life Church.

The son of Pastor Bimbo and Taiwo Odukoya, Jimmy Odukoya, has been named the Senior Pastor of the Fountain of Life Church. Jimmy Odukoya This was revealed by, Rotimi Okpaise, a pastor of the church, on Sunday, during church service at the headquarters of the church. Pastor Okpaise said that the late Taiwo Odukoya confided in the Board of Trustees members about the succession plan before his demise. Addressing the congregation, Okpaise said the BoT unanimously elected Jimmy as the Senior Pastor and chairperson of the board.  A few facts on Jimmy Odukoya. 1. Jimmy Odukoya is a Nollywood actor and musician who started his acting career in 2016 after featuring in ‘Baby Shower’. 2. He has played one of the lead roles — Oba Ade — in Netflix’s ‘Woman King’ movie and has also been featured in movies like ‘Lifting the Veil’, ‘I am Nazzy’, and ‘Oga Pastor’, among others. 3. Aside from acting, Jimmy is also a motivational speaker, dancer, and fitness enthusiast. 4. He has been nominated for t...