Sonia Ekweremadu, daughter of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has reacted to the sentencing of her parents to prison, saying “I feel guilty because I feel like all these have happened because of me.”
A court in the United Kingdom, on Friday sentenced Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months imprisonment, while his wife, Beatrice, was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment for sponsoring a Nigerian man to the UK for the sole purpose of harvesting his kidney to save their daughter, Sonia.
Along with the Ekweremadus, a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, was jailed 10 years. Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 56, wanted a new kidney for their 25-year-old daughter Sonia.
Speaking with BBC after the court judgement on Friday, Sonia said apart from the feeling of guilt about the whole situation, “I don’t think it will ever be the same again,” she said while holding back tears.
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.”
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.”
Speaking further on the court judgement, she added: “It’s sad. It’s been really hard to wrap my head around it. I understand the conviction. Personally, I disagree with it. However, that’s from a very biased perspective as their daughter, and I would obviously back my parents.”
