Sonia, the daughter of former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, on Saturday, expresed deep regrets at the conviction of her parents by a London court over organ trafficking offences.
Sonia, in an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), expresed guilt that her parents were convicted because they were seeking solution to her health condition.
She said although she understands why her parents were convicted, she disagreed with it from a “very biased perspective as their daughter.”
“I understand the conviction, however, I personally disagree with it. That is from a very bias 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,” Sonia said.
Asked about the victim, who was supposed to donate his kidney to her, Sonia said she was not involved in the process.
“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 said.
In March 2023, a UK jury had found that Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice; and a doctor, Obinna Obeta, conspired to bring a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.
The young man was said to have been falsely presented as Sonia’s cousin in a failed bid to persuade doctors to carry out an £80,000 private procedure at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
While Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months, his wife, Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, and “middleman” medical doctor, Obeta got a 10-year jail term.