A Nigerian senator has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in jail by a London judge, becoming the first person to be convicted under Britain's modern slavery laws for his involvement in an illegal organ trafficking operation. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were found guilty of conspiring to bring a man from Nigeria to London to harvest his kidney for their 25-year-old daughter, who suffers from a kidney condition.
Judge Jeremy Johnson said that "people trafficking across international borders for the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery," and that it is "a trade that preys on poverty and misery and desperation." Beatrice received a sentence of four and a half years, while Obinna Obeta, described by prosecutors as a "medically qualified middle-man" who helped the family, received 10 years in prison. Sonia, the couple's daughter, was acquitted at the trial.
During the trial, it was revealed that the family had made an agreement with the man to donate his kidney in return for a fee and the promise of work in the UK. The family pretended that the man and Sonia were cousins and coached him to give false answers to doctors at a London hospital. However, the transplant was never carried out as medical staff prevented it from going ahead.
While it is not illegal to donate an organ in the UK, it is illegal to do so for payment or reward. This was the first case of its kind to be prosecuted under the country's modern slavery laws.
The victim, who cannot be named, said in a statement read out in court that "I would never have agreed to any of this, my body was not for sale," and that "I can't think of going back to Nigeria. These people are extremely powerful and I worry for my safety."
Ekweremadu's tenure as a senator is set to end later this month when the current term finishes. He did not participate in the February 2023 election and another politician won his seat. Representatives for the Nigerian justice ministry and the senate have not yet commented on the case.