Wife of former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, convicted over organ trafficking, has been released from the United Kingdom’s prison.
Sentenced to five years in a UK prison, Beatrice Ekweremadu, wife of Ike Ekweremadu, returned to Nigeria on Tuesday, a source said, requesting anonymity.
In March 2023, Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obinna Obeta, a medical doctor, were convicted of conspiring to traffic a young man for organ harvesting under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015.
The case was the first conviction of its kind under UK law.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta was handed a 10-year prison term.
The trial judge, Jeremy Johnson, ruled that Beatrice should spend half of the sentence in custody and be on licence for the rest of the sentence.
The judge also held that the period spent by Beatrice in electronically monitored curfew and the remand duration should be considered when calculating the time spent in prison.
Ekweremadu, one of the longest-serving Deputy Senate Presidents since the return of democracy in 1999, and his wife were found guilty of arranging for a young Nigerian man to travel to the UK in February 2022 with the intention of harvesting his kidney for their ailing daughter, Sonia.
Local media quoted the President of Mpu Town Union Federated, the hometown of the Ekweremadus in Enugu, as describing Beatrice’s return as a huge relief to the entire community.
“Our joy as Mpu people knows no bounds. It is a great day for us. Since morning, there has been jubilation and celebration in all the villages.
“People are shedding tears of joy, especially those who were depending on the philanthropic disposition of the family to survive. Today is our Orie market day, and the whole market was agog with celebration,” Benjamin Chijioke said.
