Sonia Ekweremadu: I Feel Guilty for My Parents’ Conviction

*Apologises to family, wishes proposed kidney donor well*Victim fears for his safety if returned to Nigeria

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Twenty-five-year-old Sonia, the daughter of the jailed ex-Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has said she felt guilty that her parents were convicted because of her.
Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 56, were sentenced to nine years, eight months, and four years, six months imprisonment, respectively, for plotting to illegally harvest the kidney of David Nwamini, the boy at the centre of their arrest and prosecution. The third accomplice, a medical doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta was jailed for 10 years.

Meanwhile, Nwamini has said he would like to remain and work in the United Kingdom, expressing doubt over his safety if he returned to Nigeria.
In an interview with BBC, Sonia noted that although she understood the verdict of the court, she disagreed with it, admitting however, that her position could be due to her bias as a daughter to the senator.
While apologising to her family for what they had to go through for her sake, Sonia explained that she bears no grudges against Nwamini, saying she wished him well.

“It’s been really hard to really wrap my head around it. I understand the conviction, but personally, I disagree with it. However, that’s from a very biased perspective as their daughter and I would obviously always back my parents.
“However, the law has taken its course and we just have to move forward as a family,” she said during the interview.
Sonia also took time to explain why it was difficult to get a donor from her own family, disclosing that there’s a particular gene in the family that would make that almost impossible.

“(My condition) is called nephritic syndrome. Basically, my kidneys are small and they have loads of big holes in them. Either I stay on dialysis for the rest of my life, or I get a transplant. These are my two options.
 “I have the APO-1 gene. So, to us, that kind of excluded the family, especially on my dad’s side, because they have quite a history of kidney conditions,” she said.
Sonia added that it was in August of 2021 when she found out that there was a possibility that she would need a transplant that her family started reaching out to people.

However, she noted that she was not directly involved in the negotiations, which were handled by her family. She also declined to answer a question on whether she knew Nwamini as a cousin of hers.
“I wasn’t involved at all. It was mostly my family that handled everything to do with my medical side. I mean, I was aware that someone did come forward. He had just come over to the UK, I believe with my uncle and my mom, and I wanted to thank him for that. And the picture (shown) was basically for memories.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an involvement. They just wanted me to see the progress that had been made,” she pointed out.

While hoping that she would be able to get a transplant soon, Sonia who also responded to how she felt towards Nwamini, stressed that she felt nothing towards him. “I don’t feel anything towards him. I wish him all the best,” she posited.

She also apologised for making her family go through such a tortuous experience, saying that life may never be the same again.
“I want to use this opportunity to apologise to them (my family) for the way everything has played out,” she added.
“Life is just so dynamic. Like you’re one day in your house chilling and the next day, your whole life is turned around, upside down. I don’t think it will ever be the same again. And obviously, I feel guilty because I feel like all these have happened because of me,” Sonia said.

She also expressed shock at the turn of events, especially when security operatives visited their house in the UK.
Meanwhile, Nwamini, the victim in the organ trafficking case has said he wanted to remain and work in the United Kingdom, expressing doubt over his safety if he returned to Nigeria. “They could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria,” he alleged.

He remarked in his impact statement which was read in court, during the sentencing, saying that he was given the assurance that he was being taken to the UK to work by the convicted persons.
“He (Dr. Obina Obeta) did not tell me he brought me here for this reason. He did not tell me anything about this. I would have not agreed to any of this. My body is not for sale.

“I worry for my safety in Nigeria. Those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria.
“My plan now is to work and to get an education and to play football,” Nwamini was quoted to have said, adding that he did not want to claim compensation from the “bad people” as it would be a “curse and bad luck”.
While it is legal to donate a kidney in Britain, it is unlawful to do it for financial reward or material gain.