Sonia said, “I understand the conviction, however, I personally disagree with it.”
By Jeffrey Agbo
Senator Ike Ekweremadu‘s daughter, Sonia, has said she feels guilty that her parents were convicted because they were trying to find a solution to her health challenge.
In March 2023, a UK jury found that Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and a doctor, Obinna Obeta, criminally 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.
On Friday, an Old Bailey Court jailed all three of them.
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Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months, Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, while “middleman” medical doctor Obeta received a 10-year prison term.
Sonia told the BBC that she and her siblings were surprised when the police knocked on their door and informed them of their purpose.
She said she disagreed with the conviction of her parents.
“It’s sad. It’s been really hard to wrap my head around it. I understand the conviction, however, I personally disagree with it. That is from a very biased 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,” she said.
Sonia, who is currently undergoing dialysis, was also on trial alongside her parents but was not convicted.
The daughter of the former deputy Senate President described her disease as Nephrotic syndrome, a kind of kidney disorder that makes the body pass too much protein in urine.
Asked about the man who was supposed to donate his kidney to her, she 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,” she said.
“I don’t think things will ever be the same again. And obviously, I feel guilty because I feel all these have happened because of me,” she added, while holding back tears.
On what she has learnt over the whole saga, 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.”
On how her parents have handled their current reality, the 25-year-old 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,” Sonia said.
Asked what she would be doing next, Sonia 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.”
