Ike Ekweremadu is a man in fetters; driven by paternal love, he has landed in grisly cuffs in faraway London, United Kingdom – the jailhouse bonds render him captive and constrained. Likewise his wife, Beatrice shares his fate; she wears her manacles like a despicable bracelet on her wrist.
The embattled former Deputy Senate President (Ekweremadu) and his wife are in a serious dilemma. Their fate hangs precariously in the balance as they await their sentencing by the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey.
Ekweremadu, 60; his wife, Beatrice, 56; and their medical ‘middleman,’ Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of David Nwamini, 25, to Britain with a view to exploiting his kidney, after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.
They probably thought they would beat their ordeal. They may have said to themselves, “This too shall pass.” But sadly, it won’t. However, their daughter, Sonia, for whom they allegedly sought to procure Nwamini’s kidney, was cleared by the court.
These are certainly not the best of times for the Ekweremadus. While their conviction signposts a personal tragedy to the family, it signals yet another triumph for the British legal system.
Since news of the deputy senate president and his wife’s arrest broke in June 2022, their travail had occupied the front burner of public discussion. Expectedly, the accusation of organ harvesting elicited a flurry of reactions.
In the United Kingdom (UK), forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking are serious crimes. The trafficking of organs is illegal in the UK and legal donation of organs can only take place following a person’s consent. Under the UK’s Modern Slavery system Act 2015, organ harvesting is punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
But how did Ekweremadu and his wife land in their present predicament? The desperation to save their daughter, Sonia’s life, landed them in detention. Following their arrest, they were denied bail severally, triggering the couple’s apprehension and worries from their friends and family.
Ekweremadu, a three-time Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, has since surrendered his passport to the British government over the issue. In the most humiliating fashion, the Ekweremadus have been left pining for freedom. Many have sympathised with the senator and his wife; standing in solidarity with them are the former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, a retired FCT permanent secretary, Fred Chukwulobe, Chief Chinyeaka Ohaa, and relatives of the embattled senator.
En route to his conviction, Ekweremadu stated his case before a 12-member jury pleading that he was moved to save his daughter’s life, as a dutiful father. He said he did what “was expedient” and disclosed that he was advised by his doctor against seeking a kidney donor from among his family members. But the prosecution lawyer, Hugh Davies, countered saying that Ekweremadu ignored medical advice to find a donor for his daughter among genuine family members.
Beatrice, however, pulled the rug from under the feet of her husband when she denied involvement in the search for an organ donor for their ailing daughter. On the family’s finances, the 56-year-old told the court that her husband took care of the house, just as she pointed out that she only carried out domestic duties which included visiting their children in school, in the UK.
Sonia was diagnosed with a kidney problem in 2019, and since then, there had been frantic efforts to get her a donor. The 25-year-old, on her part, pleaded “not guilty” to the charge levelled against her when she appeared again in court this year.
In the end, Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and their doctor accomplice, Obinna Obeta, were found guilty. The jury found that they conspired to bring the 21-year-old at the centre of the matter, David Nwamini, to London to exploit him for his kidney. According to the UK Guardian, it is the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
Their daughter, Sonia, was however cleared of the charges. They were alleged to have attempted to convince doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London to perform an £80,000 transplant on the donor who was presented as Sonia’s cousin. However, during the trial, the couple apologised for claiming that the donor was a relative.
The prosecutor said Ekweremadu, a lawyer and lawmaker, “agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter – somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries, and with whom, for his own political protection, he wanted no direct contact.”
Throughout the trial, Ekweremadu denied all accusations and maintained that he was the victim of a scam. Obeta, who also denied the charge, claimed the man was not offered a reward for his kidney and was acting altruistically. Beatrice vehemently denied knowing anything about the purported conspiracy. Sonia did not enter any defense after presenting the court with a medical report claiming she is unfit for trial.
Nwamini, the 21-year-old at the epicenter of the controversy. Contrary to initial rumour, he was not a minor; based on the details provided by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and Westminster Magistrate Court last June and July respectively.
The young man said he thought he was coming to Britain to work. He also told the court how he was born and bred in a village in Nigeria, the oldest of nine children to his carpenter father and mother.
He went to a village school until the age of 15 when he left because his parents needed money, the court heard. His uncle took him to live with him in Lagos and gave him work selling phone accessories, he said. After four years, he started his own business selling phone accessories from a wheelbarrow in the market, earning N3,000 or N4,000 a day.
He further disclosed that he was taken by Dr. Obeta for his consultation at the Royal Free Hospital. He told judges he thought it was for a test before he could start work.
The prosecutor, Hugh Davies KC, told the court that Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward.” He said they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man, The Guardian UK report added.
The behaviour of Ekweremadu showed “entitlement, dishonesty, and hypocrisy,” Davies told the jury. He said Ekweremadu “agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter – somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries, and with whom, for his own political protection, he wanted no direct contact.”
There is a likelihood that the Ekweremadus may not get the minimum 12 months option attached to summary convictions, but if they are found guilty of “intent to commit human trafficking” — seeing as the kidney transplant did not eventually happen — they will be handed a sentence not exceeding 10 years. Perhaps, a soft landing for the Ekweremadus will bring respite for them.
All eyes are on the presiding judge, Justice Jeremy Johnson who has reserved the sentencing to a later date. Ekweremadu and his wife have been remanded in custody and await sentencing on May 5.
The ordeal of Senator Ekweremadu and his family should serve as a lesson to all and sundry.
