Sonia Ekweremadu, daughter of Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has regretted the conviction of her parents in the United Kingdom for organ harvesting.
The Nigerian lawmaker was sent to jail in the UK for nine years and eight months by Justice Jeremy Johnson yesterday.
Ekweremadu and wife, Beatrice were found guilty of conspiring to bring a market trader in Lagos to the UK for the purpose of harvesting his kidney for the use of the politician’s 25-year-old daughter.
Ekweremadu’s wife Beatrice was handed 4 years, six months jail term, while the doctor involved in the case of organ trafficking got a 10-year jail term with his medical licence suspended.
Recall that the Ekweremadus case marked the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for organ harvesting.
Ekweremadu and his family were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 and subsequently arraigned in court for conspiring to bring the victim to London to exploit him for his kidney.
In an interview with the BBC about the development shortly after the conviction, Sonia stated that she feels guilty about her parents’ conviction.
“I feel guilty that all this happened to my parents because of me,” she noted.
Recall that the former deputy senate president was jailed for Nine years and eight months while his wife received four years and six months sentence in prison.
The couple and medical “middleman” Dr Obinna Obeta, 50 received 10 year prison term.
