Nigerian senator and his wife are found guilty of organ-harvesting plot trends now

A wealthy Nigerian politician, his wife and a medical 'middleman' were today all found guilty of an organ-harvesting plot to traffick a penniless market trader to the UK to harvest his kidney in a NHS hospital.

In the first case of its kind in the UK, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, all face jail after they were convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiring to exploit a young man from Lagos for his body part. 

The Ekweremadus' daughter Sonia, 25, who was to receive a kidney from the trafficking victim, wept as she was cleared of the same charge this morning. But she tearfully hugged her father as he was sent down from the dock.

The victim, a 21-year-old street trader from Lagos, was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He claimed he was 'treated like a slave' when brought to the UK from Lagos and told to pretend to be Sonia's cousin to get the transplant approved.

The conspirators' plan was for the victim to provide a kidney to Sonia for between £2,400 and £7,000 and the promise of work in the UK. 

But a consultant working in the NHS hospital refused to remove the vital organ having become suspicious because the young man appeared initially unaware he was the donor of the kidney and was clearly not 41 as his passport claimed.

The victim, who cannot be named, then turned up at Staines Police Station on May 5 2022 and told police that he had been trafficked from Nigeria into the UK and that someone was trying to take one of his organs. 

Beatrice and Sonia both burst into tears in the dock and hugged Ike as the unanimous verdicts were announced after 13 hours and 42 minutes.

Mr Justice Johnson ordered reports and adjourned sentence until 5 May.

Obeta and Ike were remanded in custody along with Beatrice, who was previously on conditional bail throughout the trial.

Remanding Beatrice in custody, Mr Justice Johnson said: 'I take into account that Beatrice Ekweremadu has extensive duties to look after her daughter who requires regular dialysis treatment. I am minded that Sonia can live under the care of her brothers and sisters.'

As her parents were taken down to the cells, Sonia continued to weep.

It is the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ harvesting conspiracy. The offence of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a view to their exploitation, under section 2(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 carries the maximum of 10 years jail.

The victim, a 21-year-old street trader from Lagos, was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney to Sonia for an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

While it is lawful to donate a kidney, it becomes criminal if there is a reward of money or other material advantage.

The prosecution claimed the donor was offered up to £7,000 and the promise of a better life in the UK.

It was alleged the defendants tried to convince medics at the Royal Free by pretending he was Sonia's cousin when, in fact, they were not related.

When their transplant bid failed, Sonia Ekweremadu's family, who have an address in Willesden Green, north-west London, switched to Turkey and set about finding more potential donors, it was alleged.

An investigation was launched after the young man ran away from London and slept rough for days before walking into a police station more than 20 miles away Staines in Surrey, crying and in distress.