Emmanuel Thomas I Friday, May 5, 2023
OLD BAILEY, London – It has now dawned on the former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu and a medical doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta that plea for clemency pouring in from Nigeria did not work and they will have to spend years in UK prison, following the judgement handed over to them by Deputy Senior District Judge, Justice Tam Ikram who passed the sentenced on the three convicts.
Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months, his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu to 6 years while Dr. Obinna Obeta was sentenced to 10 years.
In sentencing Ike Ekweremadu, the judge held that the former Deputy Senate President has no previous case, “you are a person of impeccable character”, he said.
He thereafter asked Obinna to please stand up. “There are aggravated features in your case, you deliberately targeted a victim who is particularly vulnerable due to his young age, his isolation from his immediate family and his poverty.
“After the conspiracy to exploit same was reported, you continued to try to find another person to be exploited in the same way”, the judge said.
From the custodian sentencing, it appears that the plea from former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and fellow lawmakers made no impact.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 50 were last month convicted for conspiring to exploit 21 year old Ukpo Uwamini David under modern slavery laws.
Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and national modern slavery lead at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Lynette Woodrow celebrated the conviction, describing it as “our first conviction for trafficking for the purposes of organ removal in England and Wales”.
The victim, who told the court that he is a street trader in Lagos, said he was brought to the UK to provide a kidney in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London for Sonia, the ailing daughter of the senator.
Ukpo Uwamini David had told the police that the Ekweremadus treated him like a slave before he escaped to the police station.
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.
The London Metropolitan Police initially filled the following charges against the Ekweremadus.
“[A] Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
“[B] Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting”, the police said.
