By Gideon Njoku
The 21-year old boy who former Deputy Senate President, Dr Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Dr Beatrice Ekweremadu, allegedly trafficked to the United Kingdom for the sole purpose of harvesting one of his kidneys, was a trader in Nigeria.
Their 25-year old daughter, Sonia, suffers from a kidney disease, and needed a transplant. Her parents allegedly, picked the boy after medically testing a few others to get a match. The test, the prosecution said, was carried out in Nigeria before he was picked as a match for the donation.
Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested at the Heathrow Airport, London, in June, 2022, as the couple arrived from Istanbul, Turkey.
They were charged with a criminal trafficking for organ harvesting, a charge they deny. Charged along with them are Sonia, and a London-based Nigerian Medical Doctor, Obinna Obeta.
When the case came up on Monday, February 6, 2023, at Old Bailey Court, Prosecutor, Hugh Davies KC, described the Ekweremadu family as “close, open and loving, with a direct interest in Sonia’s medical treatment.”
He, however, said it was criminal to offer one a reward for organ donation. This seems to be the main problem of the Ekweremadu’s.
Hugh said that the Ekweremadus deliberately went to financially vulnerable people for the solution to their daughter’s problem.
“He and his associates began the search for a donor among economically vulnerable people in Nigeria, with the right blood and genome types.
“There was an obvious risk that those providing organs for reward are likely to come from the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society.”
Hugh said that when they got a match in the 21year old, he was offered an equivalent of £2,400, and an opportunity to live and work in London.
The prosecution, also, said that the false impression was created that the alleged victim and Sonia are Cousins.
He said: “None of this would have been necessary if this was a straightforward, genuine, altruistic kidney donation. It was not. It was criminal. In the real world, altruistic donors are an exceptionally rare commodity.”
The Ekweremadus and Dr Obeta deny the allegations of plotting to exploit the alleged victim.
The former Deputy Senate President and Dr Obeta have been in custody since their arrest. They were denied bail. Mrs Ekweremadu was granted bail after two months in jail. Sonia, because of her health and treatment, was never locked up.
The case continues.
