A Peckham doctor was sentenced to ten years imprisonment today (Friday May 5) for brokering an organ harvesting plot for a Nigerian senator which involved trafficking a poor Lagos street seller to the UK.
Fifty-one-year-old Dr Obinna Obeta, was found guilty in March of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation and at the Old Bailey today he was handed his sentence in what has been described as landmark prosecution – the first of its kind under modern slavery laws in the UK.
Wealthy Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 56, who both live in Abuja, Nigeria, were found guilty of the same offence. Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months’ imprisonment and his wife four years and six months.
The trafficked Lagos street seller, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has declined applying for compensation, irrespective of the financial benefit he stood to make.
In his victim impact statement to the court he described how he wanted to put the entire ordeal behind him. His plan is to work, get an education and play football.
The victim continues to be safeguarded and police are working closely with partners on future support.
‘We applaud the man’s bravery for giving evidence in the case and the tireless work of the police involved in the investigation,” said Julie Currie, Victim Navigator Programme Manager at Justice and Care.
“We hope the trial sends a clear message out to other traffickers that they will be pursued,” she said after sentencing was passed. “Thankfully, in the UK, cases of organ trafficking are very rare.
“It has been our privilege to support the survivor involved, who has been through a horrific experience, and help him to begin to rebuild his life,” she added.
Dr Obinna Obeta, who was described as the middle man was arrested on July 12 at his home address in Peckham. Police said that he himself was an organ recipient in 2021 and that he played a pivotal role in this offence. He recruited the victim and had significant communication with him.
The court heard how the plot was to provide a kidney to the Nigerian couple’s daughter Sonia Ekweremadu, 25, who fell ill while studying at Newcastle University in December 2019. The three defendants had tried to convince medics at the Royal Free that the victim was Sonia’s cousin.
Sonia was cleared of the same charge as her parents and remains on weekly dialysis with a debilitating illness.
Jurors heard how Dr Obeta used a private medical company to arrange a visa for the 21-year-old victim to come to the UK to donate his kidney.
After being brought to the UK on February 20, 2022, the victim stayed with Obeta at his Peckham address.
The victim, who made a few pounds a day selling phone accessories from a wheelbarrow, believed he would earn money by working for the Ekweremadu family.
But the court heard that, unbeknown to him, it had been arranged for him to provide a kidney at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead Heath as part of an £80,000 private transplant that the Ekweremadus were funding.
The court heard how it became apparent to the doctor carrying out the screening that the victim had limited understanding of why he was there. After several appointments, the victim realised he would be donating a kidney and the consultant noted the fear and panic this caused the victim.
The victim said he returned to Obinna’s property but described how the mood had changed significantly and how he was treated as a ‘slave’.
The victim then escaped the property, sleeping rough for around three days, before walking into Staines Police Station on May 5, 2022.
He reportedly told police: “I don’t know anywhere, I don’t know where I am. I was sleeping three days outside around, for someone to help me, save my life.
“The doctor said I was too young but the man said if you do not do it here he would carry me back to Nigeria and do it there.”
Detectives from Specialist Crime Command’s Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Unit launched an investigation to understand how this vulnerable man had arrived in London.
The court heard how Sonia’s father Ike Ekweremadu enlisted the help of his medically-trained brother, Diwe Ekweremadu, to search for a donor for his sick daughter in 2021.
Diwe Ekweremadu, who remains in Nigeria, turned to former classmate Dr Obeta who had recently had a private kidney transplant at the Royal Free thanks to a Nigerian donor.
The victim, who was known to Obeta’s donor, was recruited from a Lagos street market and provided with a passport and medical travel visa.
The court heard that he underwent blood tests in Nigeria which he thought were necessary to get a visa but were instead to determine if he was a medical match to Sonia.
Detectives obtained Obeta’s mobile phone, finding “extensive involvement” in the offence saying he recruited the victim and communicated with him.
They also discovered an application for a six-month visa for the victim. The application stated: “Senator Ike Ekweremadu is sponsoring my medical treatment to enable me to donate an organ to Sonia Ekweremadu in Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.”
“I would be donating an organ to my closest cousin (Sonia) in appreciation for her sacrifices towards me, my family and community. I am willing to put my life on the line for her to live and continue her good service to humanity,” it also stated.
On 21 June 2022, detectives arrested Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu at Heathrow Airport weeks before arresting Obeta at his home address.
“This investigation into organ harvesting was conducted by dedicated, specialist crime teams. Getting to the truth was challenging and complex,” said Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, the Met’s Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation lead.
“Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu and Obeta preyed on the victim, a young man vulnerable by his personal circumstances, using their significant wealth and political influence to intimidate and exploit him.
“Modern Slavery is hidden in plain sight in our communities and high streets, in hospitality, our factories, sex work and construction. We need the public’s help in identifying potential victims of trafficking and exploitation to enable us to target the organised criminals who see people as a commodity and who control, enable and facilitate the slavery of human beings,” he added.