The former deputy-president of the Nigerian senate, Sen Ike Ekweremedu would be sentenced on May 5 after he’s was found guilty on March 23 of luring a young man to the United Kingdom for the purpose of harvesting his kidney during a six-week trial at the Old Bailey by Justice Jeremy Johnson
Sen Ekweremadu was found guilty alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a physician, Obinna Obeta.
Contrary to rumours circulating on social media, the senator from Enugu has not been sentenced to death. The claim that Ekweremadu has been sentenced to ten years in prison by a court in the United Kingdom cannot be confirmed.
Under the Modern Slavery Act, Ekwerwmadu’s crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, there is currently no credible evidence that the sentence has been handed over to the embattled senator.
Recall that in a letter to the court clerk in April, former President Olusegun Obasanjo pleaded with the British court to tamper with justice in the case against Ekweremadu and his wife.
While he acknowledged that the crime for which Ekweremadu was convicted was reprehensible, the former president urged the British government to show leniency to the prominent Nigerian family because their sick daughter was the intended recipient of the kidney.
The couple was convicted alongside their physician, Obinna Obeta, as their daughter, who was suffering from a kidney condition, wept profusely in court.
