Nigerian politician in England guilty of organ trafficking

A Nigerian couple and another man were found guilty of organ trafficking conspiracy in London on Thursday.

As the British news agency PA reported from the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London, they had tried to persuade a 21-year-old man from their home country to donate a kidney for a fee. The verdict will be announced on May 5. It is the first conviction under the UK’s new modern slavery law.

The organ was to be transplanted at a hospital in London, but the operation was rejected by doctors out of concern. The organ was to be given to the convicted couple’s 25-year-old daughter, who had serious kidney disease. The father is said to be a Nigerian politician who sits in the country’s Senate. The other man was involved in the plot as a “medical intermediary”.

According to prosecutors, the plan was for the organ donor to receive the equivalent of £7,000 in exchange for his kidney and the option to remain in the UK. He had previously sold mobile phone accessories at a market in the Nigerian city of Lagos, which he transported in a wheelbarrow as a mobile shop. However, he was presented at the hospital as the nephew of the politician’s daughter.

When the transplant failed due to the doctors’ resistance, the young man feared for his life, left London and slept on the streets for several days before going to a police station. He said he was unaware of organ donation plans until his arrival in the UK last year. (sda/dpa)