After a London court found him and his wife, Beatrice, guilty of organ trafficking, former Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu faces a 10-year prison term under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom.
Ekweremadu and his wife were remanded in custody following Mr. Justice Johnson’s guilty verdicts, and they will be sentenced on May 5.
Alongside a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, and their daughter, Sonia, the pair were accused, but the jury found them not guilty after deliberating for nearly 14 hours.
After receiving complaints from the young man regarding their alleged plans to harvest his organ, UK authorities arrested and held the Ekweremadus.
In a £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London, the young trader from Lagos was to be rewarded for donating a kidney to Sonia.
Organ harvesting is included in the definition of human trafficking in the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015.
Section 2 Subsection 1 of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015 defines human trafficking as the act of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person (V) with the intention of exploiting V.
It is stated in Section 2 that whether V consents to the travel (whether V is an adult or a child) is irrelevant.
In Segment 2 Subsection 7, the law expressed that “an individual who isn’t a UK public commits an offense under this part in the event that any piece of the organizing or working with happens in the Unified Realm, or the movement comprises of appearance in or section into, takeoff from, or travel inside, the Assembled Realm.”
According to Section 5 Subsection, a person who commits an offense under Section 1 or 2 is subject to the following penalties: (a) life in prison upon conviction on indictment; b) in the event of a summary conviction, a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of one year.
Unless Subsection 3 applies, a person who commits an offense under Section 4 is subject to the following penalties in Section 5: (a) a maximum of ten years in prison upon conviction on indictment; b) in the event of a summary conviction, a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of one year.
According to Section 3, a person who commits an offense under Section 4 by kidnapping or false imprisonment is subject to life in prison upon conviction on indictment.