The former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, along with his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor named Obinna Obeta, are set to receive their sentencing.
They were convicted in March 2023, for organ trafficking, marking the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
The three individuals were found guilty of conspiring to arrange for a young man, David Nwamini, to travel to Britain so that he could be allegedly exploited for his kidney, which was needed for the lawmaker’s daughter, Sonia, who was ill.
Following a six-week trial and subsequent conviction at London’s Central Criminal Court, the Ekweremadus and their doctor may potentially be sentenced to a 10-year jail term for violating the Modern Slavery Act. The judge presiding over the case, Justice Jeremy Johnson, will be responsible for delivering the sentence on Friday, May 5, 2023.
Recalled that Blueprint had reported on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, that the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), all of which requested leniency from the British Authorities. In addition, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, also made an appeal on behalf of the embattled legislator to the British authorities.
