Organ Trafficking: 2 Members Of Ekweremadu Family Sent To Prison In UK… How Whatsapp Messages Made Things Easy For Prosecutors
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been a member of the Nigerian Senate since June 2003, has found himself in a precarious situation, as the head of the family, the federal lawmaker had tried to carry out his duties as a protector and a provider, but he has however gotten himself involved in a messy situation.
While he had become a senator in June 2003 and emerged as Deputy Senate President on June 9 2015 , he was also arrested for trafficking a 21-year-old man to the United Kingdom to provide a kidney for his daughter, Sonia, in June 2022.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, who were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March, have been sent to prison. It was the first organ trafficking conviction under the modern slavery act.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu was jailed for four years and six months due to her more limited involvement while Dr Obeta would spend 10 years behind bars.
It was the first conviction in the United Kingdom that had to do with ‘organ removal imbroglio’.
Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and Dr Obinna Obeta, were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March, they were found to have conspired to bring the victim to a private renal unit at the London’s Royal Free hospital as a potential kidney donor for Sonia.
Lynette Woodrow, deputy chief crown prosecutor and national modern slavery lead at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said it had been ‘our first conviction for trafficking for the purposes of organ removal in England and Wales’.
She added that this had called attention to an important legal principle which makes it irrelevant whether a trafficking victim knows he or she would be coming to the UK to provide a kidney or not.
‘With all trafficking offences, the consent of the person trafficked is no defence. The law is clear; you cannot consent to your own exploitation’ she added.
Sequel to the senator’s arrest, the Metropolitan Police and CPS have been working with hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority about actions they should take when concerns about organ trafficking are raised.
The judge said Ekweremadu must serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison and the remainder released under licence.
It was gathered that WhatsApp messages between Obeta and the Ekweremadu family, including the one that mentioned an illegal ‘donor fee’ had eased things for the prosecutors.
DS Andy Owen said the case would have been ‘much more difficult’ if the accused had deleted their WhatsApp messages.
‘It was irrefutable evidence. It was really hard for them to argue against those messages. Could we have done it without them? I like to say yes’ Owen added.
Are WhatsApp messages accepted in a court of law as evidence? In the United Kingdom, in cases that include; Forse v Secarma Ltd, Wells and Solari v PNC Global Logistics and Case v Tai Tarian , it was accepted as evidence.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned instant messages and pictures on electronic platforms had also in recent times gotten admitted as evidence in both civil and criminal proceedings in Malaysia.
DI Esther Richardson, from the Metropolitan police’s modern slavery team has commended the victim for being courageous.
‘He showed tremendous courage to come forward to give evidence against powerful people. He is innocent and naive. Having never been on a flight, he was petrified the plane would fall from the sky. When he fled Obeta’s flat, he slept on the streets fearing that snakes might bite him’ DI Esther said.
The victim is being supported by Justice and Care, a charity that campaigns for the victims of modern slavery.
Richardson also noted that the sentences should send a signal that powerful people are not above the law- Team@orientactualmags.com
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