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Nigerian Senator Sentenced to Nine Years in UK Over Organ Harvesting Scheme

© Photo Mohamed ElmaaziThe Old Bailey 5 September 2020 by Mohamed Elmaazi
The Old Bailey 5 September 2020 by Mohamed Elmaazi - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 06.05.2023
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu, charged with illegal organ harvesting, was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison by London's Old Bailey criminal court, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
"Ike Ekweremadu, 60 ... [has] been imprisoned for nine years and eight months ... at the Old Bailey for conspiring to arrange the travel of a man for the purpose of harvesting his organs," the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
In March, Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice and doctor Obinna Obeta were found guilty of conspiring to transport to London a 21-year-old man from Nigeria for the purpose of harvesting his kidney for the senator's dialysis-dependent daughter. They promised to pay the victim a four-figure amount in pounds sterling and to also provide him with work in the UK, according to the case details published by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The senator's wife Beatrice, 65, has been sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta, 51, to ten years, the prosecution said.
"This is a landmark conviction and we commend the victim for his bravery in speaking against these offenders," Detective Inspector Esther Richardson said.
Ekveremadu and his wife were arrested in June 2022 under UK's modern slavery legislation. He is a former vice-chairman of the Nigerian Senate and member of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria.
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