A 15-year-old who was reportedly transported to London from the streets of Lagos by the former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and his wife was rejected organ removal by a specialist working at an NHS hospital, according to court testimony.
The doctor at the Royal Free in Camden began to wonder whether the alleged victim knew he was the kidney donor and whether he was indeed 41 as stated on his passport.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and Beatrice Ekweremadu, 55, are charged with bringing the unemployed child from Nigeria to the UK in order to give his organs to their daughter, who has renal failure.
The 15-year-old was handed a 41-year-passport old’s in order to enter the UK, but until he arrived at a hospital appointment in London, he was unaware that he was there to donate a kidney, a court heard yesterday.
He had a series of medical consultations after moving to the city in February about kidney donation, but a physician at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London, allegedly grew worried about the boy’s actual age and whether or not he was aware that he was there to give an organ.
Since 2003, Mr. Ekweremadu has served as an elected senator in the Abuja-based senate. He entered politics after working as a lawyer for many years.
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.
Prosecutor Damla Ayas told Uxbridge Magistrates Court yesterday: ‘The victim was 15. In Nigeria he was approached by both defendants. He was homeless on the streets of Lagos. They deceived him and promised him a better life in the UK. He was given a passport for a 41-year-old. The passport was illegally obtained by these defendants.
‘He was provided with a medical travel visa saying the purpose of the travel was to provide medical treatment for the defendants’ daughter who was undergoing dialysis in relation to a number of health issues.
‘It was premeditated, it was planned. Blood tests were obtained in Nigeria and he travelled to the UK in February this year.
Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer
‘He was taken to several medical appointments, in particular a medical appointment at the Royal Free Hospital and was spoken to by a consultant about the organ harvesting for a kidney transplant.
‘The consultant was concerned about his actual age and was concerned he was not aware he was the donor of the kidney. He only found out that the purpose of his visit was for an organ transplant when he visited the hospital’.
Police were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery laws last month.
After meeting with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln around ten days ago, Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the previous two weeks.
It was a joy and an honor to be appointed as a visiting professor of corporate and international linkages by the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom, he tweeted. A copy of the Magna Carta was another prized present that I received. It was made around 807 years ago, around 1215.
The court heard that the pair was detained two days earlier at Heathrow Airport as they tried to catch a flight to Turkey, where it was rumored that the surgery 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 journey with the intention of exploitation, specifically organ harvesting.
At Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the senator was dressed in a grey sweater, while his wife was attired in a black-and-white knit cardigan.
“It is conspiracy in regard to human trafficking offenses for the aim of organ harvesting,” stated prosecutor Damla Ayas. 15 years old is the victim in this incident.
‘They the couple were interviewed at the police station. Both of the defendants have provided a prepared statement.
‘Mr Ekweremadu in his prepared statement denied allegations of human trafficking.
‘He said at no stage has he arranged transport for anyone with intention to exploit them.’
His wife similarly denied the allegations in her prepared statement, the court heard.
Gavin Irwin, representing Ekweremadu, said: ‘There is no question this is a serious allegation. Mr Ekweremadu is a member of the senate in Nigeria.
‘He has previously held an even more senior role as deputy president of the senate.
‘He is a member of the bar in Nigeria. He is a principal in a law firm that bears his name.
‘Those issues taken together go way beyond him being a person of good character…rather that he has led a blameless life as a public servant.’
Mr Irwin added that the allegations were ‘nothing short of preposterous’.
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.
The prosecutor made an application to adjourn matters for 14 days.
Ms Ayas said: ‘In respect of these offences Attorney General consent is required and the Crown require 14 days for that to be obtained.’
Magistrate Lois Sheard said: ‘These are serious allegations and these matters are now adjourned until 7 July back here at Uxbridge.’
Ms Sheard remanded both defendants into custody ahead of their hearing next month.
The Ekweremadus are charged with ‘conspiring to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation…. between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022 within the jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court’.
The investigation was launched by the Met’s Specialist Crime team after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
The Met Police has confirmed that the boy is safe and being looked after. Mr Ekweremadu was held with Nwanneka Ekweremadu in Britain this month.
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.
In 2017 a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs harvested after being sold into slavery.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a onetime aviation minister in Nigeria, claimed that 75 per cent of slaves who have their organs harvested in North Africa are from his country.
The Cambridge University-educated lawyer added that the victims have their ‘bodies mutilated’ and are ‘roasted like suya [shish kebabs]’. He went on: ‘Roasted alive! This is what Libyans do to sub-Saharan Africans who are looking for a transit point to Europe.
‘They sell them into slavery and either murder, mutilate, torture or work them to death.’