Nigerian politician, London doctor convicted of organ trafficking

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) — A senior Nigerian politician, his wife and a doctor from London were convicted by a British court of organ trafficking on Thursday.

Following a six-week trial at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, his wife, Beatrice and Dr. Obinna Obeta were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to the UK with an intention of exploitation.

In its decision, the jury found they criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.

Ekweremadu was planning to get the young man’s kidney for his daughter Sonia, who dropped out her master’s degree at Newcastle University due to her kidney disease.

Although it is legal to donate a kidney, it becomes criminal if money or another material advantage is rewarded.

The prosecution claimed the donor was offered up to £7,000 ($8,500) along with the promise of a better life in the UK. He was falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin while applying for a British visa.

However, the donor did not fully grasp why he was brought to the UK and he is said to have learned about the kidney transplantation after attending an appointment at a private unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

The roadmap of the transplant, which costs £80,000 ($98,000), was being oscillated by Obeta, who denied that the donor was offered a reward.

Court evidence revealed WhatsApp messages, showing that Obeta charged Ekweremadu £8,000 ($10,000) as an “agent fee.”

The legal procedure was initially launched when a doctor concluded that the donor was not an appropriate candidate after learning he had no counselling or advice about the risks of the planned surgery.

An investigation was subsequently launched after the young man ran away from London and slept rough for days before walking into a police station, crying and in distress.