The former deputy senate president, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr. Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.

They conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found.

The  man had been offered a reward to become a donor for the senator’s daughter after kidney disease forced her to drop out of a master’s degree in film at Newcastle University, the court heard.

Back in February 2022, the young man was falsely presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free hospital in London as Sonia’s cousin in a failed attempt to persuade medics to carry out an £80,000 transplant. For a fee, a medical secretary at the hospital acted as an Igbo translator between the man and the doctors to help try to convince them he was an altruistic donor, the court heard.

The prosecutor Hugh Davies KC told the court the Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”. He said they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man.

The behaviour of Ekweremadu, a successful lawyer and founder of an anti-poverty charity who helped draw up Nigeria’s laws against organ trafficking, showed “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy”, Davies told the jury.

He said Ekweremadu, who owns several properties and had a staff of 80, “agreed to reward someone for a kidney for his daughter – somebody in circumstances of poverty and from whom he distanced himself and made no inquiries, and with whom, for his own political protection, he wanted no direct contact”.

Davies added: “What he agreed to do was not simply expedient in the clinical interests of his daughter, Sonia, it was exploitation, it was criminal. It is no defence to say he acted out of love for his daughter. Her clinical needs cannot come at the expense of the exploitation of somebody in poverty.”

Ekweremadu, who denied the charge, told the court he was the victim of a scam. Obeta, who also denied the charge, claimed the man was not offered a reward for his kidney and was acting altruistically.

Beatrice denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy. Sonia did not give evidence.

WhatsApp messages showed to the court revealed Obeta charged Ekweremadu about £8,000 made up of an “agent fee” and a “donor fee”

Ekweremadu and Obeta admitted falsely claiming the man was Sonia’s cousin in his visa application and in documents presented to the hospital.

Davies said Ekweremadu ignored medical advice to find a donor for his daughter among genuine family members. He said: “At no point in time was there ever any intention for a family member close, medium or distant to do what could be paid for from a pool of donors.”

The judge, Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson, will pass a sentence on May 5.

The duo alongside their daughter, Sonia, and a medical doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.

They criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found on Thursday.

The judge, Justice Jeremy Johnson, will pass a sentence at a later date, The Guardian UK reports

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, are currently facing charges in the United Kingdom after they allegedly lured a young man from Nigeria to harvest his organ for their ailing daughter, Sonia, who is also standing trial.

The lawmaker was last year arrested and had been in the custody of UK authorities after they received complaints from the young man about their alleged plans to harvest his organ.

According to Daily Mail, the young man, a trader from Lagos, was to be rewarded for donating a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

The Ekweremadus, however, decided to turn their interest to Turkey in search of the needed organ after the 21-year-old was rejected as unsuitable.

While cross-examining the lawmaker, Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said, “On the question of whether a family member could, in principle, act as a donor, you decided that was not possible based on a reported conversation between your non-nephrologist brother and Dr Obeta, a non-nephrologist?”

In response, Ekweremadu said, “He would have had basic knowledge. I’m not a doctor, so if he says so, I believe him.”

But Davies said, “All you had to do, rather than rely on a second-hand account from non-nephrologists, was to ask one of the specialists you were consulting whether a family member could donate a kidney.”

Ekweremadu, however, suggested he had “limited intelligence,” a claim that was rejected by the prosecutor, who said, “It is incredible. You do not lack intelligence.”

Davies continued, “The fact is you did not even try to ask Sonia’s cousins, for example, to consider acting as a donor.

“What you are saying is you had no intention of anyone in your family – immediate or extended – stepping up to donate a kidney to Sonia.

“Far better to buy one and let the medical risk go to someone you don’t know.”

Responding, Ekweremadu said it was “not true” that he agreed to get a donor by going through agents for the task.

Davies responded, “The pattern of communication reflects none of the type of human communication and contact you would expect if you and your family had believed that (the proposed donor) was a good Samaritan.”

Davies asserted, “The transplant with (the donor), not having gone ahead, you and your family then immediately sought to recruit further donors for reward, transferring jurisdiction out of the UK to Turkey.

“That failed too because even that donor had not been trained properly to give the false answers when interviewed.”

The defendant dismissed the prosecutor’s claims, saying, “These are not the facts.”

Davies continued, “You did not move away from the Royal Free clinical team because they lacked expertise.

“When another donor was required you immediately sought to transfer the clinical process to Turkey.”

On why the Ekweremadus had been prepared to leave an “internationally recognised centre of excellence” in London for an unknown quantity in Turkey, the lawmaker replied Davies, saying treatment in Turkey was “cheaper”.

Mr Davies responded, “You were looking to cut corners on your daughter’s clinical outcome to save money? You were a wealthy man, senator.”

According to Daily Mail, the defendant, who owns dozens of properties in Nigeria and Dubai, and sent his children to be privately educated, denied being a wealthy man.

Davies said, “That’s not true. Think of the number of properties you own.”

Meanwhile, Ekweremadu remains in custody while the trial of his family and a medical “middleman”, Dr Obinna Obeta, at the Old Bailey continues.

The lawmaker, his wife, Beatrice, and their 25-year-old daughter are on trial in London for allegedly trafficking a young man from Nigeria to serve as kidney donor.

The Ekweremadus were alleged to have offered £7,000 to the 21-year-old trader whom they flew to London and falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin so as to obtain his kidney.

According to Daily Mail, in his opening addresses at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, lawyers for the defendant, Martin Hicks, insisted they believed the donor was acting “altruistically”.

Hicks told jurors, “Be alive please to the possible cultural differences between this country and that of Nigeria, particularly to altruistic donation.

“We say the issue in this case is simple – did there exist an agreement to exploit (the donor) in the way the prosecution allege and if so, who was a party to it?

“In Nigerian society, there is an expression ‘everyone is each other’s keeper’ and the altruistic donation of organs is not regarded there as such a rare event as it is in this country. “He will also say he was told (the donor) had offered to altruistically donate a kidney to Sonia.”

Hicks said Ekweremadu did not attend any visits to the Royal Free Hospital in February and March last year, which concluded that the donor was unsuitable.

He added, “In April 2022 and with the assistance of Diwe, he continued the family search for a suitable donor for his daughter Sonia and that search continues.

“We question whether (the donor) was exploited as suggested by the prosecution.”

Speaking on behalf of Sonia, her lawyer, John Femi-Ola, said, “She suffers from a very severe kidney disease. She receives dialysis treatment three days per week.”

Each session is for four hours.

“The treatment is for the rest of her life unless there is a transplant in the future which now must be much in doubt given the publicity this case has attracted.”

Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested in June 2022 at the Heathrow Airport in London and were immediately arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court for allegedly bringing a young man into the country to allegedly harvest his organs.

He has been in custody of the UK authorities since June 23 while his wife was granted bail by a criminal court in London.

However, anti- and pro-Ekweremadu protests were staged in front of the court ahead of the proceedings.

AFP reported that before court proceedings, there was a gathering of protesters, some of whom were in support of the lawmaker while others were against him.

The lawmaker was in June 2022 arrested alongside his wife at Heathrow Airport in London on the allegation that they flew a young man from Nigeria to the UK to harvest his organ.

The allegation added that the organ was meant for Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia, who is currently hospitalised with a kidney-related illness.

Some Nigerians had in October 2022 protested in Abuja against the continued detention of the lawmaker who has now spent 223 days in the custody of UK authorities.

Protesters, once again, gathered at the court on Tuesday to either support the embattled lawmaker or protest his continued detention in UK custody.

“I mean, this case is unbelievable,” one protester, Citizen Gbola, was quoted by AFP as saying.

Where else in the world would you have a deputy senate president, who is still a serving senator, he’s still getting his regular wage?”

According to Daily Mail, Sonia couldn’t make it to court on Tuesday but sought permission with a psychological report by her team claiming she was not fit to stand trial.

She had pleaded not guilty to the allegation of trafficking a homeless man into the UK to harvest his organs for herself, when she appeared in court on November 7, 2022.

The young man, who levelled the allegation against the Ekweremadus, told Staines Police Station that he was made to undergo some medical tests, none of which he consented to.

A 50-year-old medical doctor from South London, Obinna Obeta, was also arrested in connection to the allegation.

During proceedings at the Old Bailey court, Ekweremadu who wore a grey tracksuit top only said “Yes, miss” when asked to confirm his name.

Seated beside the lawmaker in the dock and dressed in black was his wife who was granted bail in July 2022 while her husband was said to be a flight risk

In the pre-trial hearing on Tuesday, the court gave its verdict denying the bail on the grounds that he was a flight risk.

It was learned that the court cited the letter and assets forfeiture proceedings against the senator by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

In the bail application, Ekweremadu’s lawyer had argued that the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Attorney-General of the Federal had written to the court that Ekweremadu was not a flight risk.

His defense also argued that a guarantee to produce him should he pose a flight risk was given and that the Nigeria High Commission in the UK had equally given the option of tagging Ekweremadu electronically to monitor his movement.

Referring to attestation of Ekweremadu’s character by respected Nigerians and organisations, his lawyer also argued that the lawmaker had proven to be a caring and responsible father and could not escape from London, abandoning his wife and sick daughter.

The defense further told the court that they had sureties and securities of nearly half a million pounds sterling from 11 people to secure Ekweremadu’s release on bail.

Stating that Ekweremadu was a highly regarded, well-known public figure, his defense also referred to Ekweremadu’s involvement in some global humanitarian courses.

However, the prosecution insisted that Ekweremadu was a flight risk contending that as a holder of international passports from two other countries, the lawmaker could escape to any of the other countries asides from Nigeria.

The prosecution also cited the 18th July 2022 letter by the EFCC signed on behalf of the Executive Chairman, Abdulraheed Bawa, by the Assistant Director Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkoi, and referred to the assets forfeiture proceedings against Ekweremadu in the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Refusing the bail application, the Judge said, “I am entirely satisfied there remains a flight risk,” noting that bail would not make much difference “as the trial is just over a month away.”

Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), claimed that the EFCC truncated Ekweremadu’s bail application in July.

The trial of the Ekweremadus will now begin on 31st January 2023.

Amongst other things, Awomolu also accused the EFCC of dishonestly obtaining an interim assets forfeiture order against the lawmaker by withholding vital information from Justice Inyang Ekpo.

However, the EFCC dismissed the allegations through its lawyer, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), saying it was a mere coincidence.

The Old Bailey agreed that arguments will be heard on the 16th or 19th of December 2022 before the commencement of the trial in January.

Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were arrested on June 23 and charged with conspiracy to trafficking a person for organ harvesting in violation of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Though he was absent from court on Monday, his wife who was released on bail in July and Sonia, the couple’s daughter, were present.

Last week, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja ordered the interim forfeiture of Ekweremadu’s assets following an ex-parte motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, subsequently described the court’s ruling as “hasty” and a “selective judgement”.

Recall that Ekweremadu and his wife, on July 23, 2022, were being charged with Dr Obinna Obeta, on allegation of wanting to make payment for the procurement of an organ for their daughter, Sonia, from one David Nwamini.

The allegation led to the detention of Ekweremadu in a UK prison after the June 23 arrest.

In a report by Guardian.ng, the court said it will not be sitting due to the non-availability of Sonia, whose case was established.

The report added, “the court official didn’t categorically say whether the Ekweremadus’ sickly graduate daughter, Sonia, is now a defendant in the case, for which her parents were arrested. The Old Bailey official said they won’t have to wait for long, as the “case will be re-listed for sometime during the week.”

Speaking further, the court official maintained that although Monday, October 31, 2022, was fixed when the couple and their co-defendant appeared before the judge on August 4, Sonia wasn’t listed in the hearing then, adding, “the judge won’t be hearing the case because ‘there’s no counsel for Sonia.’”

According to TheCable, Ekweremadu will be remanded in custody until the next adjourned date.

Ekweremadu, who is the lawmaker representing Enugu West Senatorial district, and his wife, Beatrice, are facing allegations of organ harvesting.

His wife was granted bail last week.

Ike was charged by the UK Metropolitan Police with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person for organ harvesting.

It is alleged Ike, 60, and his wife, Beatrice, 55, brought the 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK.

Prosecutors claim they planned to have his kidney removed so it could be given to their daughter.

The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions but I have refused bail to Ike,” Daily Mail quoted the Common Serjeant of London, judge Richard Marks, to have ruled.

Prosecutors are not appealing the decision, the court heard.

Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said previously that the case involved ‘exploitation and the harvesting of an organ.’ a United Kingdom-based doctor was accused of conniving with Ekweremadu United Kingdom-based doctor was accused of conniving with Ekweremadu, and his wife to traffic a homeless man into the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter.

The doctor, Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south London, is charged under the Modern Slavery Act.

Obeta, who appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 13 July, is charged with arranging the travel of 21-year-old Davi Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK.

He is also accused of conspiring with the lawmaker to arrange or facilitate the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited through organ harvesting.

Recall that Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were recently arrested by the Specialist Crime Team of the Metropolitan Police in London for alleged conspiracy to harvest the organ of a child.

The duo had been in custody since their arrest and subsequent charge to a London court, a situation which had elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians.

His wife Beatrice, who in her defence, asked the court to allow her to appear by his side because she has not seen him since the hearing last Thursday, was not granted such a request.

The prosecutor had claimed that David Ukpo, who alleged that he was coerced to donate his kidney to the Senator’s daughter, is 15 years old.

The case has been adjourned to July 7 at Westminster Magistrate Court to enable the UK Attorney General, Suella Braverman, to determine whether the case will be tried in the country or Nigeria.

The Senate delegation will on Friday visit the former Deputy President of the Senate, in London.