Ekweremadu jailed - BBC News"/>
Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and Doctor Obinna Obeta have all been given prison terms by a judge at the Central Criminal Court, widely known as the Old Bailey.
Ekweremadu received a nine- year and eight- month prison sentence; his wife Beatrice received a four- year and six- month prison sentence; and Obeta was given a ten- year prison sentence at a sentencing hearing on Friday.
Their conviction for organ trafficking in March led to the sentencing. Sonia, the ill daughter of the Ekweremadus, was found not guilty.
After arranging or aiding a young Nigerian man' s entry into the UK in order to donate his kidney to Sonia, the three were convicted guilty.
The jury found that Ekweremadu, his wife, and their doctor engaged in criminal conspiracy to lure the 21- year- old Lagos street vendor to London so they could take advantage of him for his kidney.
The 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act' s first conviction was obtained in this case.
Several well- known people and organizations, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), pleaded for mercy before the sentence was handed down.
Other signatories to the appeal were the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), both houses of the National Assembly, and Abike Dabiri- Erewa, Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
When the Ekweremadus' arrest was reported on June 23, 2022, the charges against them were preferred. Later, on July 13, 2022, Obeta was charged. The senator' s wife received bail, but not him.
A guilty conviction was reached against Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta following a lengthy pre- trial period that began on January 31, 2023.
However, Nigerians on social media have reacted differently to the news. While some commended the judgement, others pitied the Ekweremadu' s family for the calamity that befalls them.
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