Ekweremadu, Wife Found Guilty Of Organ Trafficking

Sen. Ike Ekweremadu and wife, Beatrice

Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and wife, Beatrice, has been found guilty of organ trafficking by a United Kingdom court.

The duo alongside their daughter, Sonia, and a medical doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta, 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 alleged victim of the trafficking, David Nwamini Ukpo, an indigene of Ebonyi State, had according to reports, told doctors he was 15 and was coerced by the Ekweremadu family to donate his kidney for their daughter who has complications and needed a transplant.

The victim, a street trader from Lagos, was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

The prosecution said he was offered up to £7,000 and promised opportunities in the UK for helping, and that he only realised what was going on when he met doctors at the hospital.

It was alleged that Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu had tried to convince medics at the Royal Free by pretending he was the cousin of Sonia, who has a debilitating illness and remains on weekly dialysis, when they were not related. While it is lawful to donate a kidney, it becomes criminal if there is a reward of money or other material advantage.

Somto Bisina