The victim at the center of the organ harvesting saga has addressed the court about his encounter with the Ekweremadu family.
In a letter addressed to the court, he said his body parts are “not for sale”.
This comes after the United Kingdom court on Friday jailed Ekweremadu to a total of 9 years and 8 months imprisonment, and his wife, Beatrice, was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months imprisonment for plotting to harvest a man’s kidney.
The third accomplice, a medical doctor, Dr Obinna Obeta, was handed 10 years imprisonment.
Ekweremadu, his wife and Obeta were found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiring to arrange the travel of the victim, a young poor man, with a view to exploiting him for his body part.
However, the victim, whose identity cannot be revealed because of the legal implications, claimed he was lured to the United Kingdom under the pretext of a job opportunity in the country.
He said this in his impact statement which was read in court on Friday, Independence UK reports.
In the statement, the victim revealed his humble background in a suburb of where he said he is the oldest of 7 siblings living in a home without electricity or running water.
He was forced to become a street trader full time moving to the city to provide for his family when his father fell ill with a heart problem. He sold mobile phone accessories from a wheelbarrow making at most £7 a day and as little as 50p, the report added.
He said he was approached with an opportunity to work in the UK, something he had “always dreamed of but never thought would happen.”
He however, added that he was shocked to discover the reason for the trip was to harvest his organs to give to Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia.
“He [Dr Obinna 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,” the victim said.
He added that he could not return to Nigeria because he worries for his safety. The victim claimed someone visited his father in Nigeria and asked him to get the victim, his son, to drop the case.
“I worry for my safety in Nigeria; those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria,” he added.
He told the police he did not want to claim compensation from the “bad people” as it would be “cursed and bad luck”, the report added.