A Nigerian senator and his wife were remanded in custody in London on Thursday charged with plotting to have a 15-year-old boy brought into the United Kingdom to harvest his organs, police said.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, were both charged with conspiracy to arrange travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting, police said.
Ekweremadu is an opposition senator in the southern state of Enugu, and also a former deputy senate president.
Police said they had been alerted to the alleged plan following reports made of possible offenses under modern slavery legislation. The child involved has been taken to safety and work was under way to provide additional support.
The couple appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in London where the court was told the child involved was a 15-year-old boy, the BBC reported.
The prosecution told the court that the Attorney General’s consent was required for the case to proceed because of jurisdictional issues, the BBC added, and the couple were remanded in custody until the next court appearance on July 7.
However, amid fervent and quite diverse reactions from the the Nigerian and global communities and the on this extremely unsavoury occurence, including controversies over the age of the young man in question, did he know beforehand the reason why so much expenses was being invested on his being taken to Europe by the Senator and his wife? the boy/man in the middle of this storm has spoken. Whether he is lying or telling the truth, unfolding events will eventually reveal.
This is his side of the story
How Sen. Ekweremadu Lured Me To UK To Harvest My Kidney For his Daughter, Sonia – David Ukpo
David Nwamini Ukpo, the young lad at the centre of the organ harvesting saga charged against Ike Ekweremadu and Beatrice, his wife, recently disclosed his own side of the story.
Contrary to speculations that he was seeking asylum, that was why he went against the arrangement to help the former Deputy Senate President’s daughter, who was diagnosed with kidney malfunction.
You may recall that the Nigerian couple were arrested by the Metropolitan Police and charged in the UK. They were denied bail by a London magistrates’ court and were to remain in police custody till July 7, 2022, for another hearing.
In a post titled, “My journey to the UK,” David Ukpo took to Facebook on Saturday, June 25, 2022, to share his side of the story in a post titled, “My journey to the UK.”
According to him, he met the EKweremadu’s through one Mr. Okoro while working at a construction site and was offered a better job in the UK through the same company. He disclosed that he was taken for a medical fitness examination where a doctor named Harry disclosed the procedure they were about to carry out on him. Hence, he told the doctor why he was in the UK, and that was how the police got to know of the case.
