In the labyrinth of life, a person’s choices and actions are thread woven into the tapestry of their destiny. A choice made by former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has now cast a shadow on his path. Like the ethereal dance of moonlight on troubled waters, the consequence of his choice ripples through his existence, altering its course forever. The chronicles of June 2022 immortalize this pivotal moment as it unveiled the hand of fate, leading Ekweremadu on a 10-year sojourn within prison walls.
Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were both found guilty of conspiring to harvest a man’s kidney and were subsequently sentenced upper Friday. Ekweremadu received a prison sentence of nine years and eight months, while Beatrice received a sentence of four years and six months. Also, the medical doctor involved in the scheme, Dr Obinna Obeta, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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In a grim courtroom saga that exposed the depths of human depravity, the Old Bailey delivered its verdict, condemning the former Nigerian senator, Ekweremadu, along with his wife and their co-conspirator, Obeta. Their nefarious plot unfolded as they conspired to exploit a vulnerable 21-year-old Lagos street trader, falsely passing him off as Ekweremadu’s relative in a desperate bid to secure a private kidney transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Trapped in their web of deceit, the victim, enticed by a promise of £7,000, found himself thrust into a nightmarish ordeal, forced to part with his kidney in an illegal transaction aimed at saving Sonia, Ekweremadu’s daughter, from the clutches of kidney disease, which had ruthlessly halted her pursuit of a master’s degree.
Their conviction was the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act in the UK.
Ekweremadu, who has represented the Enugu West Senatorial District for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party since 2003, was arrested on June 21, 2022, by the UK Metropolitan Police for organ harvesting. He was arrested alongside his wife, Beatrice. The duo was charged with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person for organ harvesting.
On June 23, 2022, Ekweremadus was denied bail at the Uxbridge magistrates court in west London and remanded in custody by a UK court over the allegations.
On June 27, 2022, the Nigeria Immigration Service began investigating the authenticity of the passport obtained by the victim, a certain David Nwamini, who was alleged to have been trafficked to the UK for organ harvest by Ekweremadu and his wife.
A trending picture of the victim’s passport, however, indicated that he was born on October 12, 2000. The passport with number B00569974 was issued in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on November 5, 2021, and would expire on November 4, 2026.
The NIS, however, denied reports that the passport issued to the suspect was fraudulently procured, adding that the service followed due process in issuing the document.
The lawmaker’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on July 2, 2022 that the victim had offered to donate his kidney to Sonia, Ekweremadu’s daughter.
The lawyer added that the victim was not 15 years as claimed and that he had allegedly told his client that he was 21 years. He added that Ukpo had also allegedly told the British authorities that he was 15 years and that he did not want to return to Nigeria after being asked to do so.
A high-powered delegation led by a former Senate President, David Mark, was in court in solidarity with his erstwhile deputy when the Westminster Magistrate’s Court on July 8 remanded Ekweremadu and his
wife in custody and adjourned the case till August 4, 2022.
Others were former Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe; former Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; and Chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Adamu Bulkachuwa, and officials of the Nigerian High Commission.
On July 23, 2022, a UK-based doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta, was accused of conniving with Ekweremadu and his wife to traffic the victim into the country to harvest his kidney for their daughter.
Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south London, was charged under the Modern Slavery Act. He was charged with arranging the travel of the victim from Nigeria to the UK and accused of conspiring with Ekweremadu to arrange or facilitate the travel of the victim for exploitation.
Ekweremadu had blamed EFCC for his ordeal. The lawmaker, on December 14, 2022, told Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was responsible for his travails at the London Court, where he had been in detention over alleged organ harvest.
He told the Federal High Court that the EFCC wrote a letter to the London Court which made the foreign court refuse to admit him to bail.
On February 9, 2023, it was reported that the lawmaker denied offering money to a prospective kidney donor to save his sick daughter.
March 14, 2023, witnessed the sombre denial of Ekweremadu’s wife, who distanced herself from the relentless pursuit of an organ donor for their ailing daughter. Yet, the tides of fate revealed a different tale on February 22, 2023, as jurors bore witness to body-worn footage, where the victim, trapped in the clutches of human trafficking, stood before the police station, tears streaming down his face, a haunting visage of anguish and distress.
But the long arms of the law finally caught up with the trio. Ekweremadu, once a figure of influence, found himself handed a sentence of nine years and eight months, his dreams and aspirations swallowed by the unforgiving confines of imprisonment. Beside him, his wife faced the grim reality of four years and six months behind bars, while Obeta, the architect of their nefarious plot, received a decade-long sentence.
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Thus, their choices, like footprints etched upon the sands of time, eternally marked their destinies. Each of them would forever carry separate moments seared into the tapestry of their lives—a legacy of regret.
Bernard Joseph writes for Eko Hot Blog. This media platform reserves all rights to this article.
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