Ike Ekweremadu, a prominent Nigerian politician and former deputy senate president, along with his wife Beatrice and accomplice Obinna Obeta, have been convicted of organ trafficking in the United Kingdom.
The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, sentenced Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months in prison, while Beatrice received a four-year and six-month sentence. Obeta received the harshest punishment, a 10-year prison term.
The trio were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a 21-year-old man for his kidney, luring him to London for the purpose of organ harvesting.
The verdict marks the first conviction of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the UK, which criminalizes human trafficking and exploitation.