ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Some netizens have condemned the sentencing to jail of former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, by the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, on Friday.
On Friday, a UK court sentenced Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months, while his wife Beatrice and Obinna Obeta got four and 10 years, respectively.
Their sentence became the first of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act, following their conviction for organ trafficking in March, which lasted for six weeks.
Before they were sentence, Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta were convicted of conspiracy to arrange the travel of a young Nigerian man identified as David Nwamini to Britain in order to exploit him for his kidney, which was intended for Ekweremadu’s sick daughter, Sonia.
Meanwhile, many Nigerians have continued to react to the sentencing of the Ekweremadus, as they express their feelings.
Reacting to the act, @CnC Edozie wrote: “Uk used them to test the law for the first time. No one has been convicted for such crimes before in the UK, it shows no [matter] highly placed a black man is, the white man’s law must be obeyed. End of the Ekweremadu’s.”
Also, Choice Moses said: “If it were to be in Nigeria, the boy who they want to exploit would have been the one in jail. : “So sad, but it’s a lesson to our big men. Money and wealth are not everything in life. We should all seek the face of the Lord and do the right thing-both the leaders and the led. The Lord is our strength.”
Reacting also, BM Pius said: “That is where the rule of law is respected. This will surely serve as a deterrent to those who only consider their families to be the only people to enjoy in this life.”
Amos Ayodele: “Good, in a country where the law is supreme. I only pray for the daughter. May God have mercy on her.”
Matt Henry: “I have no sympathy for them, because if Ekweremadu built a standard hospital in Nigeria, this wouldn’t have happened, let our evil leaders learn from this. I pity only their daughter, and I pray she gets a donor fast.”
Iyanda Abiola Olawale also wrote: “I know a lot of people will be happy with this, but honestly, it’s a lesson to us all that our justice system is weak here. If it were here, how do you think this case would turn out? May God have mercy on them.”
According to Bode Folorunsho: “This is the kind of punishment and rejection you suffer when you refuse to roof your father’s house and roof another man’s father’s house while enjoying yourself in UK prison.”