Former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Ike Ekweremadu, could face a life sentence in the UK for his role in a plot to traffic a young street trader into Britain to harvest his kidney for his sick daughter.

The first of its kind in the UK, Ekweremadu, 60, was found guilty in March at London’s Old Bailey criminal court of conspiring to traffic the victim into Britain for his body part. Also convicted were his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Obinna Obeta, 50, a doctor who acted as a middleman in the plot. Ekweremadu’s daughter Sonia, 25, was cleared of the same charge.

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The victim testified that the Ekweremadus had flown him to Britain to harvest his kidney for £7,000 ($8,800), but he only realised what was happening when he was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in London last year. The case is the first time organ harvesting conspiracy charges have been brought under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act.

The maximum sentence under the legislation is life imprisonment. Around 20 people a day in Britain are diagnosed with kidney failure, necessitating prolonged dialysis treatment, and around 7,000 are waiting for a transplant from a suitable donor.