Sonia Ekweremadu addresses personal guilt, disagreement in parents’ organ trafficking conviction
Sonia Ekweremadu, the daughter of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has expressed her feelings of guilt following her parents’ conviction in relation to organ trafficking.
In an interview with the BBC, Sonia revealed that she believes her parents were driven to seek unconventional solutions for her health condition, which is why she feels personally responsible for their actions.
Although she acknowledges the reasons behind their conviction, she holds a biased perspective as their daughter and disagrees with the verdict.
“I understand the conviction; however, I personally disagree with it. This viewpoint is undoubtedly biased as I will always support my parents. Nevertheless, the law has taken its course, and as a family, we need to move forward,” Sonia expressed.
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When questioned about the individual intended to donate his kidney to her, Sonia clarified that she was not involved in the process.
“I wasn’t directly involved; it was primarily my family who handled all the medical aspects. I don’t think things will ever be the same, and I already feel a sense of guilt because I believe all of this happened because of me,” she shared.
In March 2023, a UK jury reached a verdict that Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and a doctor named Obinna Obeta conspired to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London with the intention of exploiting him for his kidney.
The young man was falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London to perform a private procedure costing £80,000.
Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months, Beatrice received a prison term of four years and six months, while the medical doctor Obeta, who acted as the intermediary, was given a 10-year sentence.
