Headlines
Ekweremadu, wife may go to jail as London court finds them guilty of organ tafficking

A former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; his wife Beatrice; and their doctor, Obinna Obeta have been found guilty of organ trafficking in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.
Ekweremadu, 60; his wife, Beatrice, 56; and 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 allegedly criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found, according to UK Guardian.
Ekweremadu and his wife were charged in the United Kingdom after they allegedly lured a young man from Nigeria to harvest his organ for their ailing daughter, Sonia.
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.
The prosecutor, Hugh Davies KC, told the court on Thursday 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.
Beatrice denied any knowledge of the alleged conspiracy. Sonia did not give evidence.
The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, will pass sentence at a later date.
Customs
Customs buckles as it suspends implementation of 4 per cent FOB charge

Headlines
MARAN convenes public discourse on controversial ICTN among contending parties

Headlines
Freight Forwarders call out NPA over duplication, illegal imposition of payment of ETO Call- up system fee on importers

-
Customs3 months ago
High rate of retirement of senior officers worries Customs leadership, as 40 percent management staff exit in 2024
-
Economy3 months ago
NNPCL signs 10- year deal to supply gas to Dangote Refinery
-
Headlines2 months ago
Another boat capsizes in Kogi as NIWA sends team to rescue missing passengers.
-
Economy2 months ago
EFCC under fire over failure to disclose identity of ex- government official owner of forfeited Abuja estate
-
Customs2 months ago
Customs gets green light to recruit 3,927 officers in 2025 to bridge personnel gap.
-
Headlines2 months ago
NIWA issues safety guidelines for accident- free yuletide, new year boat navigation on Nigeria’s waterways