Why British court defied diplomatic pressure, jailed Ekweremadu

• The law is clear

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Despite the waves of high profile pleas from diplomats and politician from Africa seeking clemency for convicted Senator Ike Ekweremadu over organ harvesting plot, the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London, yesterday served jail terms to the Nigerian senator, his wife and deal maker.

Senator Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia and Dr Obeta were in UK’s the Old Bailey on Friday  for sentencing after they, except Sonia,  were convicted on criminal charges of slavery for organ harvesting in March.

Judge Jeremy Johnson handed 60 year old Ike Ekweremadu the prison sentence for his part in a “despicable trade” that took advantage of the “poverty, misery and desperation” of vulnerable people.

He said “people-trafficking across international borders for the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery,” saying the act “treats human beings and their body parts as commodities to be bought and sold,” he added.

Readers can watch the sentencing here. https://www.youtube.com/live/k8Mb6sFFUxk?feature=share

The jail terms which grabbed global attention put UK criminal justice system to test on the modern slavery law which was enacted in 2015.

Ekweremadu’s wife, 56 year old Beatrice was jailed for four years and six months;  51 year old Dr Obinna Obeta who is said to have cooked the failed plot earned himself 10 years in prison.

Senator Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia whose precarious health conditions led to the clandestine plot, was discharged by the plot as she did not participate in any way in the plot. She remains with her renal condition which requires frequent dialysis. And most of the appeals coming from prominent quarters in Africa puts her fate into consideration.

In his letter to the Chief Clerk of the Central Criminal Court of England, former President Olusegun Obasanjo pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in the sentencing of Ekweremadu and his wife especially in view of the subsisting health condition of Sonia.

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, had on April 6,written  to the Chief Clerk of The Central Criminal Court, asking the court to temper justice with mercy.

The House of Representatives followed on May 2 with an appeal to the UK government to temper justice with mercy. A member of the House, Toby Okechukwu, who moved the motion plugged the request into the tight diplomatic ties between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

The Nigerian Senate, following a motion raised by Senator Chukwuka Utazi during the day’s plenary session, stepped in  on May 3 with a separate appeal for leniency in the sentencing of Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.

Also, the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, belatedly joined the chorus of voices with a plea for leniency with Ekweremadu.

Same day, the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) through its Ambassador at Large and Head of Diplomatic Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Duru Hezekiah, also called on the UK government to show Ekweremadu leniency.

However, all hopes that piled up on the chances that Senator Ekweremadu who is said to hold significant wealth in the UK where he also owns a home would ride the diplomatic surf out of jail crashed when Justice Jeremy Johnson described Senator as someone of high office with multiple properties, domestic staff, maids, chefs and drivers, compared with the victim who could not afford a flight ticket to travel to Abuja.

The Oracle Today reports that lengthy trial of the Ekweremadu family and middle man over the covert attempt to secure a kidney from a poor street hawker in Lagos had sparked public debate over the plausibility of numerous claims put on the table.

From claims of false promises to poor financial rewards and cheating by the middleman through manipulation of the poor by rich politicians to lying about family ties; the UK court was able to discern a grand scheme that took advantage of penury in Nigeria where people who are in position to address poverty take advantage of the victims.

Prosecutors ignored arguments in consent, pointing out that a slavery victim does not have the opportunity to deny consent to his exploitation.

Whereas it is legal to donate a kidney in Britain, it must not come with financial or material reward.

Metropolitan Police’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation lead, Andy Furphy, said the Ekweremadus had “exerted their political influence and power and control over a young man who was vulnerable by his economic circumstances”.

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 said it highlighted an important legal principle which made it irrelevant whether the trafficking victim knew he was coming to the UK to provide a kidney.

“With all trafficking offences,” Ms Woodrow said, “the consent of the person trafficked is no defence. The law is clear; you cannot consent to your own exploitation.”