Beatrice Ekweremadu, wife of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has been released from a UK prison and has returned to Nigeria.

A family source confirmed to the BBC on Wednesday that Beatrice returned to the country three months ago following her incarceration.

In March 2023, Beatrice, her husband Ike, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, were convicted under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015 for conspiring to traffic a young Nigerian man for organ harvesting. This landmark case was the first conviction under the legislation.

On May 5, 2023, the court sentenced Ike Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months in prison, Beatrice to four years and six months, and Obeta to 10 years.

Delivering the judgment, Jeremy Johnson ruled that Beatrice would serve half of her sentence in custody, with the remainder to be served under license. The court also considered the period she spent under electronically monitored curfew and remand when calculating her prison term.

The Ekweremadus were found guilty of arranging for a young Nigerian man to travel to the UK in February 2022 with the intent of harvesting his kidney for their ailing daughter, Sonia. The man, who had reportedly been promised a job in the UK, alerted authorities in May 2022, claiming he had been brought to the country for an organ transplant.

Beatrice’s release and return to Nigeria come as her husband continues to serve his prison sentence in the UK.