Sonia Ekweremadu reacts to parents conviction

Sonia Ekweremadu, daughter of Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has reacted to the sentencing of her parents in the United Kingdom.

Recall that the Nigerian lawmaker was sent to jail in the UK for nine years and eight months by Justice Jeremy Johnson.

They were found guilty of conspiring to bring a market trader in Lagos to the UK for the purpose of harvesting his kidney for the use of the politician’s 25-year-old daughter.

Ekweremadu’s wife Beatrice was handed 4 years, six months jail term, while the doctor involved in the case of organ trafficking got a 10-year jail term with his medical licence suspended.

Recall that the Ekweremadus case marked the first time defendants have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for organ harvesting.

Ekweremadu and his family were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 and subsequently arraigned in court for conspiring to bring the victim to London to exploit him for his kidney.

In an interview with the BBC about the development shortly after the conviction, Sonia stated that she feels guilty about her parents’ conviction.

“I feel guilty that all this happened to my parents because of me,

“I and my brother and sister were in the house and the bell rang, and we thought it was our parents but the policemen showed up at the door. They said they arrested me for a crime. My first reaction was shock.

“I understand the conviction. I personally disagree with it. However, this is from my biased perspective as their daughter. I will obviously back my parents.

“However, the law has taken its course. We just need to move on as one family. I have no hand at all. It was mostly my family that handed everything about my medical side

“I apologize to my parents for the way everything turned out”.