‘They Are Not Above the Law’ Warns Detective in ‘Landmark’ Organ Harvesting Case

A placard outside the trial of Nigerian Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, daughter, and another man, at the Old Bailey in London, on Feb. 7, 2023. Chris Summers/The Epoch Times

The detective in charge of the Metropolitan Police’s modern slavery team has hailed the organ harvesting conviction of Nigerian Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and middleman Obinna Obeta as a “landmark” and said they were investigating several other cases in Britain.

On March 23, Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Obeta, 50, were found guilty of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of a young man from the Nigerian city of Lagos to London to exploit him for his kidney.

On Friday, Ike Ekweremadu was jailed for 9 years and 8 months at the Old Bailey. Obeta was given 10 years and Beatrice Ekweremadu was given 4 years and 6 months.

The 25-year-old daughter of the Nigerian politician, Sonia Ekweremadu—who has been diagnosed with a serious kidney condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis with nephrotic syndrome—was acquitted of the same offence.

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, the Met’s modern slavery and child exploitation lead, told a briefing of journalists: “It is a landmark prosecution ... after a complex investigation and getting to the truth has been challenging and complex. The victim in this case was vulnerable due to his economic circumstances and the political power and wealth of the perpetrators.”

Undated images of Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu (L), his wife Beatrice (C), and middleman Obinna Obeta (R), who were all convicted after an organ harvesting trial at the Old Bailey in London on March 23, 2023. Metropolitan Police

Detective Inspector Esther Richardson, who worked on the investigation, said of the convictions: “It sends a message globally that no matter your power and influence, you are not above the law.”

It was the first conviction for this kind of offence under the Modern Slavery Act, which was passed in 2015.

Furphy confirmed that the Ekweremadu case was “not the only case of organ harvesting under investigation” by his team but he said he was unable to give a figure for how many transplants or attempted transplants were being probed.

Furphy said: “The United Nations say 10 percent of all organ transplants globally are done on the black market.”

The Epoch Times has not been able to find the specific U.N. statistic referenced by Furphy, but the Transnational Crime and the Developing World report (pdf) by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) states: “It is estimated that up to 10 percent of all transplants rely on organs that have been illicitly acquired.”

A report (pdf) in November 2021 by the U.N.’s inter-agency coordination group against trafficking in persons (ICAT) says: “Between 2010 and 2018, approximately 300 victims of trafficking in persons for the removal of organs were detected across multiple countries.”

“The latest data available confirms that trafficking for the purpose of organ removal has been reported in North Africa, South and South-East Asia, Central America, and Europe,” it added.

Richardson said: “This type of the case, where the rich and powerful are looking to exploit poor and vulnerable people for their organs; we suspect this takes place around the world.”

The trial at the Old Bailey heard a 21-year-old man—who cannot be named for legal reasons—was falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin in a bid to persuade surgeons to carry out the £80,000 operation at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.

The young man had been earning 300–400 naira (55 to 72 pence) per day selling mobile phone accessories in Lagos when he was contacted in late 2021 by a stranger—Obeta—who called him from England and offered to bring him to London and find him work.

‘Upskilling’ Hospital Staff

Doctors at the Royal Free rejected him as a suitable donor but did not refer the case to the police, who only became aware of the attempt after the man walked into Staines police station after walking 20 miles from Obeta’s home in south east London.

He initially said he was 15 years old and that age was widely reported by the media but Furphy said: “He later admitted he was 21 and said he lied because he needed help.”

Furphy said staff at Royal Free had been given “significant training” in the aftermath of the case and Detective Sergeant Andy Owen said the case had led to some “learning” at the hospital and staff had undergone “upskilling” about the dangers of human trafficking.

(L to R) Detective Sergeant Andy Owen, Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy and Detective Inspector Esther Richardson outside the Old Bailey in London on March 23, 2023. PA

The donor was rejected by nephrologists at the hospital and the transplant did not proceed, but the couple then sought other donors in Nigeria and switched their attention to Turkey, where the rules on unrelated people donating organs are less strict.

Ike Ekweremadu has been the senator for Enugu West in eastern Nigeria since 2003 and was deputy president of the country’s senate between 2007 and 2019.

Owen said when they discovered the Ekweremadus were a powerful and influential couple in Nigeria they feared it might prove difficult to get him extradited.

“We thought it would take years to get them but in June 2022 we found out that Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu were on a plane at Heathrow airport,” Owen told reporters at last week’s briefing.

He said the couple had just flown in from Turkey to see their daughter, who was studying in the UK when she became ill and was undergoing regular dialysis.

Obeta Played ‘Pivotal Role’

Specialist officers arrested the couple on the plane but it took three weeks for detectives to locate the house in London’s Old Kent Road where the donor had been staying and to arrest Obeta, who was described as having played a “pivotal role.”

Obeta was a trained doctor who had gone to medical school with Ekweremadu’s brother Diwe.

Ike Ekweremadu and Obeta, who both gave evidence, insisted the young man was an “altruistic donor” and claimed such selfless acts were common among the Ibo tribe to which they all belonged.

But the jury rejected the claim he was an altruistic donor and chose instead to believe the young man, who gave evidence with the help of an Ibo interpreter.

Sonia Ekweremadu—who was later acquitted of an offence under the Modern Slavery Act—sitting next to a man who was lined up by her parents to donate a kidney to her, in a restaurant in London in February 2022. Metropolitan Police

The witness said: “The doctor asked if I knew why I was there and I said I didn’t. He said he wanted to do a kidney transplant. I was shocked. That was the first time I heard about a kidney transplant.”

He said the doctor told him they would not be going ahead with the operation.

The witness told the jury: “The doctor said I’m not going to touch you and I should stop worrying and not be afraid, because I was crying and shaking.”

When The Epoch Times asked if they believed the donor really had no idea he had been brought over to donate a kidney, Owen replied: “The victim maintains that the first he heard about was in the room at the hospital. It is irrelevant whether there was an agreement in place for him to be rewarded or not. The jury agreed that he didn’t know before then.”

Giving evidence, Obeta—who had undergone a kidney transplant himself in London in 2021—admitted he had lied on his paperwork, claiming his donor was his cousin, but he said, “I was desperate to survive.”

Furphy refused to comment on whether Chris Agbo, a Cambridge-based NHS nephrologist, or a medical secretary at the Royal Free, Evelyn Agbasonu, would face charges over their alleged involvement in the Ekweremadu case.

Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC told the trial Agbasonu asked the Ekweremadus for £1,500 to interpret on behalf of the donor and he added it was “somewhat extraordinary” that, according to the evidence, she appeared to agree to manipulate a second meeting to the advantage of the Ekweremadu family.

Davies told the jury Agbo had arranged Obeta’s transplant—which used an unrelated donor from Nigeria—and he added: “Whether Dr Agbo knew the claimed family relationship between Sonia Ekweremadu and the donor was false is under investigation.”

Organ Trafficking

The ICAT report said: “The organs reportedly removed from victims in trafficking in persons or organ removal cases are kidneys, and, less commonly, parts of livers.”

“Male victims are reported more frequently than women. Children may also be victimised by organ traffickers. Perpetrators of trafficking in persons often belong to complex organised criminal networks, including those acting on a transnational scale,” added.

ICAT also said: “The peculiarity of this form of trafficking, however, lies in the fact that, due to its specific medical nature, it often also involves health sector professionals, including surgeons, anaesthetists, nephrologists, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other medical specialists.”

The ICAT report did not identify any countries in particular but China has been identified in the past as a country where organ harvesting is prevalent.

In 2020, after an 18-month investigation, an independent tribunal concluded beyond a reasonable doubt state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience had taken place for years in China “on a significant scale,” and was still taking place.

The independent panel chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC—who previously led the prosecution of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal—found the main organ supply in China came from imprisoned practitioners of the persecuted spiritual group Falun Gong.