Rita Odafe
Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia, and doctor Obinna Obeta were all found guilty of organ trafficking in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act in the United Kingdom. The court heard that the 21-year-old Lagos street trader was offered an illegal reward to become a donor for Senator Ekweremadu’s daughter after she had to drop out of a master’s degree in film at Newcastle University due to kidney disease. The man was falsely presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free hospital in London as Sonia’s cousin in a failed attempt to persuade medics to carry out the transplant.
Hugh Davies KC, the prosecutor, told the court that the Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”. He said they had entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man. Ekweremadu, who owns several properties and had a staff of 80, was said to have acted with “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”.
WhatsApp messages revealed that Obeta charged Ekweremadu 4.5m naira (about £8,000) made up of an “agent fee” and a “donor fee”. Ekweremadu and Obeta admitted to falsely claiming the man was Sonia’s cousin in his visa application and in documents presented to the hospital.
Beatrice denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy, while Sonia did not give evidence. Ike Ekweremadu told the court he was the victim of a scam and Obeta claimed the man was not offered a reward for his kidney and was acting altruistically. Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson will pass sentence at a later date.
