Organ harvesting: Ekweremadu’s daughter speaks on parents’ sentencing

Sonia Ekweremadu, the daughter of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has spoken about the sentencing of her parents to prison.

Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were jailed on Friday, May 5, for conspiring to traffic a 21-year-old man to the UK to harvest his kidney.

The 60-year-old man former Deputy Senate President, his 56-year-old wife, and 25-year-old sick daughter, Sonia, stood trial accused of a conspiracy to bring the man to Britain from Lagos for his organ.

At the sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was jailed for nine years and eight months, his wife Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment, while Obeta received a 10-year prison term.

However, Sonia, in an interview with BBC, said she felt guilty about the whole situation.

“I don’t think it will ever be the same again. And obviously, I feel guilty because I feel like all these have happened because of me,” she said.

READ ALSO: Organ harvesting victim: Ekweremadu is powerful, I can’t return to Nigeria

The 25-year-old further expressed sadness on the court judgement, saying: “It’s sad. It’s been really hard to wrap my head around it.

“I understand the conviction. Personally, I disagree with it; however, that’s from a very biased perspective as their daughter, and I would obviously back my parents.

“However, the law has taken its course, and we just have to now move forward as a family.”

On how her parents have handled their current reality, Sonia, who admitted that she can’t speak about what they truly feel, said they are “quite calm”.

“They are quite calm, surprisingly. But I can’t really speak about what they are feeling. This is just from an outside perspective of me seeing them. They are okay, they are just neutral,” she added.

On what she has learned over the whole situation, Sonia said, “Life is just some dynamic. Like you’re one day in your house chilling and the next day your whole life is turned around, upside down.”

Asked about what she would be doing next, she said: “My main focus is to try to help, specifically people with kidney conditions. This is just to show them they don’t need to be scared.

“I will continue to support my parents and siblings as well.”

The Star