Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu, accused of having a young man’s kidney removed in order to transplant it to his daughter, is due in court in London from Tuesday January 31.
Mr Ekweremadu, a 60-year-old former Deputy Senate Speaker, is accused along with his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 56, of bringing a 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK to have his kidney removed on their 25- year-old daughter Sonia to be transplanted.
The young man is said to have refused to consent to the procedure following a medical examination at a north-west London hospital and fled to report to police.
The Ekweremadu family was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London in June 2022. Ike Ekweremadu has been in detention ever since, while his wife and daughter have been released on bail. Another man, Obinna Obeta, a 50-year-old doctor from south London, was also charged and has been in custody ever since.
operation
The four suspects are formally charged with “conspiracy” for arranging a third party’s trip for the purpose of their exploitation, in this case organ removal.
The facts are said to have occurred between August 1, 2021 and May 5, 2022. During a pre-trial hearing, Sonia Ekweremadu pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
The trial, originally scheduled to begin in May, is taking place at the Old Bailey Courthouse in the British capital. It’s supposed to take seven weeks.
Also Read: In Northern Nigeria, Criticism of Politicians on Social Media Can Lead to Jail Time
Ike Ekweremadu, who was elected to the Senate in the Nigerian capital Abuja in 2003, tried last year to run as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP, opposition) candidate for governor of Enugu state (southern archipelago), where he came from . But he withdrew after failing to gain party support.
The charges against him have caused a stir in Nigerian media and social media, with some expressing sympathy for his family while others expressing outrage that he may have committed what he is accused of.