A NHS consultant blew the whistle on Nigerian ‘organ-harvesting parents’ In London – A NHS consultant blew the whistle on the former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and his wife accused of trafficking a teenager they found on the streets of Lagos to harvest his organs for their sick daughter, a court has heard.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and Beatrice Ekweremadu, 55, are accused of taking the homeless youngster to the UK from Nigeria to transplant his organs to their daughter who is suffering from kidney failure.
The 15-year-old was given the passport of a 41-year-old in order to get into the UK but did not know he was there to donate a kidney until he went a hospital appointment in London, a court heard yesterday.
A NHS consultant blew the whistle on Nigerian ‘organ-harvesting parents’ In London
A specialist at the Royal Free Hospital reportedly became concerned about the boy’s actual age and whether he realized he was in the city to give an organ after he had a run of medical consultations about kidney donation after arriving in February.
Mr Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer. His wife, five years his junior, is an academic and doctor and also a major public figure in Nigeria. They are believed to have four adult children. Both deny trafficking the boy.
Yesterday at Uxbridge Magistrates Court, prosecutor Damla Ayas stated: “The victim was 15.” Both defendants approached him in Nigeria. On Lagos’s streets, he was a homeless man. He was tricked into believing he would have a better life in the UK. A passport for a 41-year-old man was given to him. These defendants obtained the passport against the law.
Nigerian politician Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, are being held on suspicion of planning to harvest a child’s organs in the UK.
Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past two weeks after visiting Lincoln to meet with members of the Nigerian community there and receiving a copy of the Magna Carta.
He received a medical travel visa that stated his trip was necessary to see a doctor for the defendant’s daughter, who was receiving dialysis for a variety of medical conditions.
“It was planned and premeditated.” He traveled to the UK in February of this year after blood tests were taken in Nigeria.
He was driven to a number of doctor’s visits, including one at the Royal Free Hospital when a consultant discussed organ donation for a kidney transplant.
The consultant was worried about the man’s genuine age and that he might not be aware that he was the kidney donor. When he arrived at the hospital, he was unaware that his visit was for an organ transplant. Last month, police received alerts about possible violations of the modern slavery statutes.
The court heard that the pair was detained two days ago at Heathrow Airport as they tried to catch a flight to Turkey, where it was rumored that the procedure may take place.
Prosecutors claim that 60-year-old Ekweremadu had £20,000 on him when he was apprehended.
According to sources, the youngster is now in the custody of the Metropolitan Police and safeguarding authorities.
Ekweremadu and his 55-year-old accountant wife Beatrice are accused of conspiring to set up or aid another person’s travel with the intention of exploitation, specifically organ harvesting.
At Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the senator was dressed in a grey sweater, and his wife was attired in a black-and-white knit cardigan.
“It is a conspiracy in regard to human trafficking offenses for the purpose of organ harvesting,” prosecutor Damla Ayas stated. In this instance, the victim is a 15-year-old boy.
At the police station, the couple was questioned. A prepared statement has been given by each defendant.
‘In his prepared statement, Mr. Ekweremadu refuted claims of human trafficking.
He claimed that he never set up transportation for anyone with the goal to take advantage of them.
In her prepared statement, his wife also refuted the accusations, the court heard.
There is no doubt that this is a serious accusation, according to Gavin Irwin, who is Ekweremadu’s attorney. Mr. Ekweremadu represents Nigeria in the senate. As deputy president of the senate, he previously held an even more important position. He belongs to the Nigerian bar. A law company bearing his name has him as a principal.
When all of those problems are considered, “he has led a blameless life as a public servant,” rather than just being a person of excellent character. The claims, Mr. Irwin continued, were “nothing short of absurd.”
Antonia Gray, for Mrs Ekweremadu, said: ‘She has never been complicit or involved in any alleged illegal trafficking of any young person.
‘She is a financial accountant…with an unblemished record.’
The couple have an address they could stay at in Willesden, northwest London, the court heard.
A 14-day adjournment request was made by the prosecutor. Attorney General permission is necessary for certain offenses, and the Crown needs 14 days to secure it, according to Ms. Ayas.
These are significant claims, so the cases have been postponed until July 7 back in Uxbridge, according to magistrate Lois Sheard. Prior to their hearing the next month, Ms. Sheard remanded both offenders in detention.
The Ekweremadus are accused of plotting “between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022 within the jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court to arrange or aid the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.”
Since 2003, Ekweremadu has served as an elected senator in the Abuja-based senate. He entered politics after working as a lawyer for many years. After police received a warning about possible violations of the modern slavery Act in May 2022, the Met’s Specialist Crime branch opened an investigation.
The boy is safe and receiving care, according to the Met Police. This month, Mr. Ekweremadu and Nwanneka Ekweremadu were detained in Britain.
Mr Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer. His wife, five years his junior, is an academic and doctor and also a major public figure in Nigeria. They are believed to have four adult children.
The Metropolitan Police has said the child, who is under the age of 18, at the centre of the alleged plot is in care. Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim’s will.
The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.
The couple are two of the most famous faces in the West African state, and had been visiting the UK whe they were arrested
An ex-minister of the Nigerian government alleged in 2017 that migrants from his nation were being sold into slavery and then having their organs extracted.
Former Nigerian aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode asserted that his nation accounts for 75% of the slaves whose organs are harvested in North Africa.
The victim’s “bodies are mutilated,” the Cambridge-educated attorney continued, and they are “grilled like suya [shish kebabs].” “Roasted alive!” he continued. Sub-Saharan Africans seeking a transit route to Europe are treated in this way by Libyans.
They either kill, mutilate, torture, or work them to death after selling them into slavery.
