A 21-year-old Nigerian man, Daniel, says he travelled to the UK believing he had secured a “life-changing opportunity” but later discovered traffickers planned to remove his kidney.
He told investigators that he overheard discussions about harvesting his organ after being coached to pose as a cousin to Sonia, a kidney patient. Doctors at London’s Royal Free Hospital halted the procedure after growing suspicious of his claims.
Police launched an investigation after Daniel fled and reported the case near Heathrow. Authorities later linked the plot to Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and middleman Dr Obinna Obeta, who were convicted in March 2023 for organ trafficking under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act.
Ekweremadu received nine years and eight months, while Beatrice got four and a half years and Obeta was sentenced to ten years. Sonia was acquitted.