United Kingdom: Nigerian senator convicted of organ trafficking

Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu in March 2012. © PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP

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1 min

A Nigerian senator accused of organ trafficking has just been convicted by the British courts. He and his family brought a young Nigerian man to London to remove a kidney for the politician's daughter. Justice speaks of a "commercial transaction".

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With our correspondent in London, Emeline Vin

Ike Ekweremadu claims that he is the victim of a scam, but for the Central Court of London, he intended to pay the victim, for the donation of his kidney.

The young man in his twenties, from the poor neighborhoods of Lagos, was brought to the UK on a fake visa last year, with the promise of 9,000 euros and a better life, and only learned the reason for coming to the country in hospital. The doctors eventually declared him an "unmatched donor."

'This is a crime'

The Nigerian senator, former deputy speaker of the upper house in Nigeria, was found guilty of organ trafficking. Just like his wife – who denies having knowledge of the montage – and a Nigerian doctor, who acted as an intermediary.

The daughter of the Ekweremadu couple, for whom the kidney was intended, was exonerated. The prosecutor said the culprits treated the victim as "spare parts." "This was not about acting in your daughter's medical interest, this is exploitation, this is a crime," he added. Ike Ekweremadu, his wife and the doctor remain in pre-trial detention. The verdict will be announced on May 5, 2023.

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Read on on the same topics:

• United Kingdom
• Justice
• Nigeria
• Human rights