Nigerian politician and wife facing jail over organ-harvesting plot involving UK hospital

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Nigerian politician and his wife are facing jail sentences for an organ-harvesting plot involving a UK hospital.Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and medical "middleman" Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty following a landmark trial at the Old Bailey of conspiring to arrange the travel of a young man with a view to exploiting him for his body part.The Ekweremadus' 25-year-old daughter, Sonia, who has a serious kidney condition, wept in court as she was cleared by the jury, which deliberated for nearly 14 hours.It is the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act of an organ-harvesting conspiracy which carried a maximum life sentence.Following the guilty verdicts, Mr Justice Johnson remanded the defendants into custody to be sentenced on May 5.Sonia Ekweremadu tearfully hugged her father as both her parents were sent down from the dock.Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said: "This is the first conviction of its kind in the UK."We could not have achieved this without the courage of one person, our victim survivor.

I want to commend him for his bravery in speaking out."Modern slavery is all around us. We need the public's help in identifying potential victims of trafficking and exploitation, to bring offenders to justice and to protect the vulnerable."Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Jakymec said: "This was a horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney."The convicted defendants showed utter disregard for the victim's welfare, health and wellbeing and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having limited understanding of