In prison for nine years and eight months the 60-year-old Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced today by a London court for attempting to transplant a young man’s kidney into his daughter, without the latter’s knowledge.

The senator, his wife Beatrice and a doctor who acted as mediator were found guilty in March of arranging the transfer of the victim to London. The 21-year-old man from Lagos was a street vendor and had been promised a job in Britain. Beatrice Ekweremadu was sentenced to four years and six months in prison and doctor Obina Obeta to 10 years in prison.

All three defendants were facing life sentences. They were found guilty under British modern employment law. It was the first time this law was applied to an illegal transplant case.

“All of you played some part in this reprehensible trade,” Judge Jeremy Johnson said in announcing his decision, which the defendants listened to in shock. “The trade in human organs is a form of slavery. People and their organs are treated as commodities that can be bought and sold.” commented.

The couple’s daughter, 25-year-old Sonia, was acquitted. She was present in court today and greeted her parents from a distance as police escorted them out of the courtroom.