The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of Britain announced on Friday that a Nigerian senator, his wife, and a doctor were arrested and charged in connection with a conspiracy to harvest organs from a young man who had been smuggled to the UK for his kidney.
With this first conviction under Britain’s modern slavery laws, the Central Criminal Court (also known as the Old Bailey) handed down sentences of nine years and eight months to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Dr. Obinna Obeta.
According to the CPS statement, Sonia Ekweremadu, the Ekweremadus’ daughter, has failing kidneys and requires frequent treatment.
The victim was allegedly lured to the United Kingdom with the promise of a job and a reward of up to £7,000 ($8,810), but he had no idea that he would be asked to donate a kidney to Sonia in exchange for the prize.
After a medical specialist became suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the intended transplant, he or she called it off, and the victim ran away, sleeping on the streets for days before disclosing the plan to UK police in May of last year, the CPS said.
The chief crown prosecutor, Joanne Jakymec, was cited as stating, “This was a horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney.”
She went on to say that the guilty defendants “showed utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health, and well-being and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout,” despite the fact that the victim had a limited awareness of what was really going on.
The head of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation Command, DI Esther Richardson, remarked, “This is a landmark conviction and we commend the victim for his bravery in speaking against these offenders.”
