Former Senate Vice-President Ike Ekweremadu faces 10 years in prison under Britain’s Modern Slavery Act 2015. A London court convicted him and his wife Beatrice of organ trafficking.
Following Mr Justice Johnson’s conviction, Ekweremadu and his wife are in custody pending May 5 sentencing.
The two, along with medical doctor Obinna Obeta and their daughter Sonia, faced the charges. However, they were acquitted after nearly 14 hours of deliberation by the jury, according to The Mirror.
The British authorities received complaints from a young man about their organ harvesting scheme. After an investigation into the complaint, Ekweremadus was arrested.
According to Daily Mail, the young man, a trader from Lagos, was to be rewarded for donating a kidney. Furthermore, the donation was to Sonia in an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 frowns on human trafficking under which organ harvesting falls.
According to the human trafficking offence in Section 2 Subsection 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person (“V”) with a view to V being exploited.
Subsection 2 states that it is irrelevant whether V consents to the travel (whether V is an adult or a child).
In Section 2 Subsection 7, the law stated that-
“a person who is not a UK national commits an offence under this section if any part of the arranging or facilitating takes place in the United Kingdom, or the travel consists of arrival in or entry into, a departure from, or travel within, the United Kingdom.”
The penalties under the Act stated in Section 5 Subsection that a person guilty of an offence under section 1 or 2 is liable, (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
In Section 5 Subsection 2, a person guilty of an offence under Section 4 is liable (unless Subsection 3 applies), (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years; (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both.
Subsection 3 states that where the offence under Section 4 is committed by kidnapping or false imprisonment, a person guilty of that offence is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
cc: Punch Ng
