The former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; his wife Beatrice and their doctor have been convicted of organ trafficking, in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act.

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and medical “middleman” Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, plotted to exploit a young Nigerian man, trafficking him from the streets of Lagos to the UK so his kidney could be removed.

The 21-year-old street trader was brought to the Royal Free Hospital in north London, but concerns were raised by a doctor when it became clear the man did not know what he had signed up for.

The Ekweremadus had plotted the £80,000 private transplant operation with Obeta, to provide their sick daughter Sonia with a kidney as she battled organ failure caused by a deteriorating medical condition.

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A jury found the Ekweremadus and Obeta guilty of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, at the end of a six-week trial.

Mr Justice Johnson remanded the three guilty defendants in custody until sentencing on May 5.

The trial heard how the young man at the centre of the plot had been offered up to £7,000 for his organ and told to pose as Sonia’s cousin in order to get the transplant approved.

The scheme was thwarted when a doctor realised the man had little idea of the procedure during preliminary tests, and he was “visibly relieved” when it was blocked.

When their transplant bid failed, Sonia Ekweremadu’s family, who have an address in Willesden Green, north-west London, switched to Turkey and set about finding more potential donors, it was alleged.

An investigation was launched after the young man ran away from London and slept rough for days before walking into a police station more than 20 miles away in Staines, Surrey, crying and in distress.

Ike Ekweremadu, who owns about 10 properties in Nigeria and Dubai and is a wealthy senator in his native country, had sent four of his children, including Sonia, to be privately educated in the UK.

Sonia was studying for a master's degree at Newcastle University when she became ill in December 2019.

In the hunt for a donor, her uncle Diwe turned to a former classmate Dr Obeta, of Southwark, south London, who recently had a private kidney transplant at the Royal Free with a Nigerian donor.

In a text, Diwe told his brother: “I had an extensive discussion last night with my classmate who had his transplant last month. I will brief you.”

Dr Obeta then engaged with Dr Chris Agbo, of Vintage Health Group, a medical tourism company, as well as an agent to arrange a visa for the donor, the court heard.

The donor, who knew the man who donated his kidney to Dr Obeta, was recruited from a Lagos street market where he made a few pounds a day selling phone accessories from a wheelbarrow.

He underwent tests in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, before arrangements were made to fly him to the UK last year, the court was told.