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Sonia, the ailing daughter of the former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, said she feels guilty about her parents' conviction for organ trafficking in the United Kingdom.
Pulse reports that Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and a doctor, Obinna Obeta, were all sentenced to prison on Friday, May 5, 2023, having been found guilty by the Old Bailey in March.
The trio were convicted for criminally conspiring to arrange the travel of a young man with a view to exploiting him for his kidney for use by Sonia.
The victim, a 21-year-old Lagos street trader identified as David Nwamini, was lured to the United Kingdom by Obeta who was contacted by the Ekweremadus to facilitate the organ transplant.
David was said to have been presented as Sonia’s cousin willing to donate his kidney but the plan fell apart after doctors assigned to carry out the £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London couldn't be convinced.
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales sentenced the Nigerian lawmaker to nine years and eight months in prison on Friday, while Beatrice would serve a four-year and six-month term and Obeta bagged 10 years for his role in the crime.
But, Sonia said she personally disagreed with the conviction of her parents who were only trying to find a solution to her health challenge.
Speaking to BBC in an interview on Friday, Sonia, who was also tried alongside her parents but escaped conviction, expressed her guilt over her parent's ordeal.
She said, "Seeing my parents in that situation was a lot. It's sad, it's really been hard to wrap my head around it.
“I understand the conviction, however, I personally disagree with it. That is from a very biased perspective as their daughter, I will obviously always back my parents.
“However, the law has taken its course, we just need to move on as one family,” she added.
The lawmaker's daughter is currently undergoing dialysis and she described her condition as Nephrotic syndrome, a kind of kidney disorder that makes the body pass too much protein in urine.
When asked what she knew about the man who was supposed to donate his kidney to her, Sonia said she wasn't involved in the process because her family handled all her medical needs.
Her words: “I didn’t have a hand in it, it was mostly my family that handled everything about my medical side.
“I don’t think things will ever be the same, already I feel guilty because I feel all these happened because of me,” she added.
Pulse reports that the victim begged the United Kingdom court to allow him to stay back in the country over fears for his life if he returned to Nigeria.
In an impact statement read in court on Friday, David said he is scared of returning to Nigeria over fears that he may be arrested or killed.
He added that the Ekweremadus are dangerous and someone visited his father in Nigeria to pressure him to drop the case.
His words: “I worry for my safety in Nigeria. Those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria."
It'd be recalled that the couple were arrested on arrival at Heathrow Airport back in June 2022.