Ekweremadu: Shehu Sani, Omokri React as UK Court Jails Ex-Deputy Senate President, Wife for Organ Trafficking

• Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice have been sentenced to nine years and eight months and four years and six months, respectively, by a UK court for their involvement in organ trafficking
• The duo were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a 21-year-old man for his kidney after bringing him to London
• The verdict marks the first time the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has been used in such a case, with Nigerians reacting with mixed emotions to the sentence

Ike Ekweremadu, the former deputy senate president, has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison by the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, UK, for his involvement in organ trafficking.

His wife, Beatrice, was also sentenced to four years and six months in jail.

The verdict was handed down on Friday, May 5, following the guilty verdict pronounced by the jury on March 23.

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From arrest to jail term: The full timeline of Ike Ekweremadu's ordeal in UK

The senator, his wife, and a doctor named Obinna Obeta were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a 21-year-old for his kidney after bringing him to London.

This landmark verdict marks the first time that the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the UK has been used in such a case.

Ike Ekweremadu goes to jail: How are Nigerians reacting?

Reno Omokri, @renoomokri, tweeted:

"I do not support what Ike Ekweremadu and his wife did. But I empathise with them. May God never permit me to be in the same position.

I do not know what I would do in such circumstances. May the Almighty provide relief to the Ekweremadus. In Yeshua's Name."

Senator Shehu Sani, @ShehuSani, said:

"Senator Ekweremadu, Beatrice and Obinna; the UK Court is done and The Lord shall see you through."

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Adamu Garuba said:

"I really don’t like this. I see it as a dent upon the image of our country and its sovereignty. A whole former deputy senate president to serve a jail term in a foreign land?! What kind of country are we?

"I saw some pleas from different people for his release, most notably from former President Obasanjo and the Speaker of House of Representatives, but this isn’t enough."

Olu Arotiba, @OluArotiba, reacted on Twitter:

"I feel bad for Ike Ekweremadu"

El Elon, @elonchorch, said:

"If the case of Ike Ekweremadu happened in Nigeria, as an influential Nigerian politician he is, do you think the Nigerian judiciary would have given the victim justice?"

Ekweremadu: IHRC writes UK government, plea for clemency

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) appealed to the Government of the United Kingdom for leniency in the sentencing of Ekweremadu, alongside his wife Beatrice and Dr Obinna Obeta.

Ambassador at Large and Head of Diplomatic Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Ambassador (Dr.) Duru Hezekiah said Ekweremadu is a patriotic Nigerian who has served the Nigerian Senate thrice since 2003.

Source: Legit.ng