An alleged victim in an organ trafficking case involving an influential Nigerian senator, a young street vendor, claimed in court in London on Tuesday that he asked British police to “save his life” after escaping a kidney transplant .
The 21-year-old from Lagos has accused former Nigerian Senate deputy speaker Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice of bringing him to the UK to have a kidney removed to be transplanted to their 25-year-old daughter Sonia.
The couple have pleaded not guilty, as has their daughter and a doctor who has also been on trial at the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London since early February. The four defendants face life imprisonment on formal charges under the Modern Slavery Act of conspiring to organize travel for third parties for the purpose of exploitation.
The alleged victim told jurors Tuesday about his trip, saying he slept outdoors for three days after London doctors told him he was there for a kidney transplant. Finally, in May 2022, he turned himself in to the police “looking for someone to save (him) his life”.
He claimed he believed he had been brought to the UK only to work and only once realized it was an organ transplant in front of British doctors.
“Nobody told me about a kidney transplant,” he said, explaining that he had been promised around £2,000 for the operation and had been trained to lie to doctors.
Adrian DENNIS / AFP
Béatrice Ekweremadu, photographed in January 2023
In the UK it is legal to donate a kidney in a completely altruistic manner, but illegal to do so for a ‘reward’.
Asking for the donor’s consent does not change anything in this case, since according to the law “no one can consent to their own criminal exploitation”.
Ike Ekweremadu, an influential figure in Nigeria, was first elected to the Senate in 2003. The allegations against him caused a stir in Nigerian media and social networks, with some expressing support, others outraged by the alleged facts and calls for the MP’s suspension.
He remains in custody for the duration of the trial, which must last several weeks. His wife and daughter are on probation.