Ike Ekweremadu, a former vice president of the Nigerian senate, his wife Beatrice, and a doctor named Obinna Obeta will get their sentences from a UK court today, Friday, following their conviction for organ trafficking in March.
For breaking the Modern Slavery Act, they could receive a potential 10-year prison sentence.
Under the Modern Slavery Act, the judgment will be a first of its sort.
Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta were found guilty of conspiring to organize the flight of David Nwamini, a young Nigerian man, to Britain in order to take advantage of him for his kidney.
Sonia, the ill daughter of Ekweremadu, need the organ.
A conviction at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, is anticipated today after their six-week trial.
Hugh Davies, the prosecutor, told the jury that Ekweremadu’s actions demonstrated “entitlement, dishonesty, and hypocrisy”.
Ekweremadu and Beatrice, his wife, disputed the accusation.
They denied having any prior information about the purported scheme.
Additionally, they admitted to the court that they had been duped.
On his end, Obeta also refuted the accusation, saying the man was acting benevolently and had not been promised payment in exchange for his kidney.
In the meantime, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, had written to the British government begging on behalf of the legislator to balance justice with mercy while passing the punishment.
Additionally, Ohaneze Ndigbo, an Igbo sociocultural group, the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) entered the fight in pleading with the British Authorities to show the troubled member some mercy.
