Sunday, August 31, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About Time Africa Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » News » DETAILED REPORT: Nigerian politician, Ekweremadu, jailed for nine years in UK over organ trafficking plot

DETAILED REPORT: Nigerian politician, Ekweremadu, jailed for nine years in UK over organ trafficking plot

Judge says Ike Ekweremadu was ‘driving force’ in scheme to obtain kidney for his sick daughter

May 5, 2023
in News
0
552
SHARES
4.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A senior Nigerian politician has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in the UK for being the “driving force” in a plot to harvest a kidney for his sick daughter from a young man he had trafficked to London.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March in the first organ trafficking conviction under the Modern Slavery Act.

They were found to have conspired to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to a private renal unit at London’s Royal Free hospital as a potential kidney donor for Ekweremadu’s daughter Sonia.

In his sentencing remarks on Friday, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, said all three conspirators played a part in a “despicable trade”. He said: “The harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery. It treats human beings and their bodies as commodities to be bought and sold.”

Mr Justice Johnson pointed out that Ike Ekweremadu had been part of the Nigerian senate when it outlawed organ trafficking.

Ekweremadu and wife

Addressing Ekweremadu the judge said: “You played a leading role in the offending. You did so in order to secure the material advantage, namely a human kidney for your daughter. I am sure that you were the driving force throughout.” He added: “Your conviction represents a very substantial fall from grace.”

In reference to the bribing of a medical secretary at the Royal Free, the judge said: “You were involved in the corruption of a member of hospital staff.” The judge said Ekweremadu must serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison and the remainder released under licence.

Nigeria’s senate and the Economic Community of West African States had urged the judge to show clemency to Ekweremadu, a political ally of the former president Goodluck Jonathan.

Beatrice Ekweremadu was sentenced to four years and six months, with half spent in custody. Obeta, who helped organise the organ harvesting plot after himself receiving a kidney transplant at the Royal Free in July 2021 from another man allegedly trafficked from Nigeria, was sentenced to 10 years, two-thirds of which must be served in prison.

The attempted transplant by the Ekweremadus was rejected by the hospital in March 2022. The plot was discovered when the male victim, referred to as C in the court, went to the police in May in fear of his life because he was believed he was being lined up by Obeta for another transplant in Nigeria.

ReadAlso

Terrorists Killed 150,000 Across Africa in Past Decade, Study Finds

Prince Harry ‘to meet with King Charles’ when he returns to UK for anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death

C cannot be named because the identity of victims of modern slavery is protected. In a victim’s statement read to the court he said he remained fearful of reprisals against him and his family, and was worried that his father had been approached to drop the case. He said: “I can’t think about going home to Nigeria these people are extremely powerful and I’m worried for my safety.”

He also refused legal compensation from the defendants because he said “receiving anything from the bad people would be cursed”, the court heard.

Prosecutor Hugh Davies, KC, said: “Kidney donation for reward is a substantial, internationally prohibited commercial industry that exploits economically vulnerable individuals.” He told the sentencing hearing that Ike Ekweremadu “played a significant role in the 2014 legislation that prohibited the very activity he then engaged in. This legislation was specifically directed at protecting economically vulnerable people in Nigeria, from exploitation by those such as him with power and wealth.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Davies added: “He was an active and essential part of this conspiracy. He knew and approved a high degree of economic and physical control that was used against [the victim] throughout … He was totally indifferent to aftercare for [the victim].”

DI Esther Richardson, from the Metropolitan police’s modern slavery team, said: “He showed tremendous courage to come forward to give evidence against powerful people. He is innocent and naive. Having never been on a flight, he was petrified the plane would fall from the sky. When he fled Obeta’s flat, he slept on the streets fearing that snakes might bite him.”

The victim is being supported by Justice and Care, a charity that campaigns for the victims of modern slavery.

Richardson said the sentences should send a signal that powerful people are not above the law.

She said: “Our victim was treated as a commodity and this was a transactional process just like any drugs or firearms deal. Had this been successful, the victim would have had long-term medical implications and may even had the requirement for dialysis.

“The welfare and wellbeing of the victim was of little consequence to Sonia getting a kidney. The sentences send a message globally that no matter your power and entitlements, you are not above the law and that we listen to victims and safeguard them.”

Det Supt Andy Furphy, who heads the Met’s modern slavery team, told a media briefing that the convictions were his “proudest moment in 25 years of policing”.

The prosecution’s case was built around WhatsApp messages between Obeta and the Ekweremadu family, including one that mentioned an illegal “donor fee”.

DS Andy Owen said the case would have been “much more difficult” if the accused had deleted their WhatsApp messages. He said: “It was irrefutable evidence. It was really hard for them to argue against those messages. Could we have done it without them? I like to say yes.”

Source: The Guardian London
Tags: EkweremaduJailNigeriaSenateUK
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

South Africa Wants King Charles to Give Back the Cullinan Diamonds

Next Post

The Enduring Oddness of King Charles III

You MayAlso Like

The mountainous northern tip of Somalia’s Puntland State has become the base of operations of the Islamic State group’s al-Karrar office, which coordinates financing for the group’s terrorist operations across African, the Middle East and Central Asia. GETTY IMAGES/THE WASHINGTON POST
News

Terrorists Killed 150,000 Across Africa in Past Decade, Study Finds

August 31, 2025
News

Relics From an Ancient Egyptian ‘Party Town’ Are Pulled Out of the Sea

August 29, 2025
News

Africa’s largest refugee-hosting country is facing backlash over US migrant deal

August 28, 2025
News

Delta State at 34: A Beacon of Progress and Promise, says Rector Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi Uku

August 27, 2025
News

Passenger train derails in Nigeria, 6 passengers injured

August 26, 2025
News

Stolen Soil, Land Grabbing: Mburubu Community Sends SOS to Enugu Govt

August 26, 2025
Next Post
Britain's King Charles looks on outside Buckingham Palace, following the passing of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain, September 9, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville

The Enduring Oddness of King Charles III

Sudan’s entire history has been dominated by soldiers, violence, corruptioni

Discussion about this post

Inside the Battle for Ownership of Madonna University

Stolen Soil, Land Grabbing: Mburubu Community Sends SOS to Enugu Govt

Kemi Badenoch reveals ‘hysterical’ level of personal attacks faced as a black woman

NYSC Member Shares Harrowing Experience with Anambra Vigilantes

Six beers that are good for your gut health – and the ones to avoid

Africa’s largest refugee-hosting country is facing backlash over US migrant deal

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1240 shares
    Share 496 Tweet 310
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1066 shares
    Share 426 Tweet 267
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    972 shares
    Share 389 Tweet 243
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    904 shares
    Share 361 Tweet 226
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    735 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0
The mountainous northern tip of Somalia’s Puntland State has become the base of operations of the Islamic State group’s al-Karrar office, which coordinates financing for the group’s terrorist operations across African, the Middle East and Central Asia. GETTY IMAGES/THE WASHINGTON POST

Terrorists Killed 150,000 Across Africa in Past Decade, Study Finds

August 31, 2025

Prince Harry ‘to meet with King Charles’ when he returns to UK for anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death

August 29, 2025

Relics From an Ancient Egyptian ‘Party Town’ Are Pulled Out of the Sea

August 29, 2025

Get your children the chickenpox jab to stop the anti-vaxxers, minister tells parents

August 29, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIME AFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIME AFRICA biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About Time Africa Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.