Ike Ekweremadu, former Deputy Senate President, and his wife, Beatrice, have been found guilty of organ trafficking in the UK.
The case against the Ekweremadu family and Dr. Obinna Obeta, a medical doctor, was heard at the Old Bailey in London over the course of six weeks. The court found the four individuals guilty of conspiring to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to the UK with the intention of exploiting him for his kidney.
Justice Jeremy Johnson presided over the case and will deliver the sentence at a later date, according to The Guardian UK. The Ekweremadus and Dr. Obeta were found to have committed criminal conspiracy in the matter of organ trafficking.
This news comes at a time when Nigerians are also following the case of Olisofa Popoola, a 60-year-old Nigerian bus driver who was arraigned in a UK court over the death of a pedestrian in London.
On Monday March 20, 2023, Popoola was charged with causing the death of Melissa Burr, a 32-year-old pedestrian, outside Victoria Station in London. The incident occurred on August 10, 2021 when Popoola was driving an electric 507 single-decker bus and accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
As a result of the collision, another 507 bus waiting to pick up passengers was hit, causing the death of Burr who was crossing the road at the time. Diana Mathuranayagam, the driver of the second bus, was also injured and suffered a badly fractured eye socket after being flung from her vehicle.
During the trial, Popoola admitted responsibility for the accident but claimed it was due to carelessness rather than dangerous driving. However, the jury heard that he continued to drive forward after hitting the second bus, which resulted in the tragic death of Melissa Burr.
The case against Popoola was heard in the UK court, and the outcome is still pending.