Senator Ike Ekweremadu is a famous politician in Nigeria. The Central Criminal Court in London has found a senior Nigerian politician, his wife and a medical “intermediary” guilty of human organ trafficking.
Wealthy Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Dr. Obinna Obeta brought a young man from Lagos to Britain to harvest his kidney for their 25-year-old daughter Soni, who was also implicated in the case but had her charges dropped. This is the first conviction in the UK under the new Modern Slavery Act.
According to the allegations, a young street trader from Lagos was taken to London to have a kidney removed for transplantation at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Such an operation costs 80,000 pounds sterling (about 90,000 euros), but the youngest was offered only 7,000 pounds sterling (about 8,000 euros) and promised help with employment in Britain.
The details of the operation were not explained to him either, and he only understood what exactly was expected of him during a conversation with the doctors in the hospital. According to prosecutors, the defendant tried to convince hospital staff that the young man was Sonya’s cousin (although in fact he was not related to her) and was willing to donate a kidney to her because she was seriously ill and required daily dialysis.
“The mediator, Dr. Obinna Obeta and the wife of Senator Beatrice were also found guilty. During an interview with a potential donor, Dr. Peter Dupont, a physician at the hospital where the transplant would take place, discovered that the donor was unaware of the procedure and its risks.
The donor also did not have the necessary resources to sustain himself after the operation. As a result, the transplant was canceled, the unsuccessful donor fled London, and the Ekveremadu couple turned their attention to Turkey and began searching for a new donor.
As for the young man, he slept on the street for several days and then appeared in tears at a Surrey police station. “The doctors told me that I was too young for such an operation, but this person [Ekweremadu] said that I would be taken back to Lagos and the operation would be done there,” he told the police. A criminal case was then opened.
During the trial, the jury was told that Sonya was studying at Newcastle University when she fell seriously ill in December 2019. In 2021, her father, Ike Ekweremadu, with the help of his brother, Dive, who is a medical professional, began searching for a kidney donor for their daughter. Dive, who now lives in Nigeria, contacted his former classmate, Dr. Obete, who lives in London and recently underwent a kidney transplant at the Royal Free Hospital, with the kidney donated by a Nigerian.
Dr. Obeda contacted Dr. Christ Agbo of Vintage Health Group, which specializes in medical tourism, and found an agent who could obtain a British visa for the donor. The young man chosen as the donor was a street vendor in Lagos and knew the person who gave his kidney to Dr. Obeche.
It took the jury 14 hours to convict all three defendants. After the hearing, Chief Royal Prosecutor Joan Yakimets said, “The convicts showed complete disregard for the health and well-being of the victim and used their considerable influence to keep him under control, with the victim having a very limited understanding of what was happening.” Mr. Ekveremadu and Dr. Obeta continue to deny their guilt and will remain in custody until the final verdict is announced on May 5.
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