Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy senate president who spent the past 42 days in UK custody, will testify in his trial on Thursday.
On June 23, the London Met Police detained Mr. Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, in the UK and accused them of planning to bring a child into the country for the purpose of harvesting organs.
The couple’s daughter has a kidney disease and has been receiving dialysis for a while, according to the prosecutors. They said that they think the objective was to give their daughter, who requires a kidney transplant, a boy’s organ.
However, David Nwamini (alleged victim of trafficking) told doctors he was 15 and was pressurized by the Ekweremadus into donating his kidney.
In a turn of event, the Nigerian government said all its records show that Mr Nwamini was not a minor and was 21 years old.
The Westminster Magistrate Court in the United Kingdom later ruled that he is not a minor.
The Ekweremadus are facing charges of conspiring to traffick a person for organ harvesting in violation of the Modern Slavery Act 2 015.
The case was transferred to Central Criminal Court in London popularly known as Old Bailey where Mrs Ekweremadu was granted bail on severe conditions. But the senator was denied bail because he was said to be a flight risk.
The trial preparation hearing is scheduled to take place on Thursday and a subsequent trial next year.
Obinna Obeta, a Nigerian doctor practising in the UK, has also been charged with plotting with the Ekweremadus to traffic a man into the UK to harvest a kidney for their daughter.
Mr Obeta appeared before Bexley Magistrates’ court on 13 July and is charged under the Modern Slavery Act with arranging the travel of a 21-year-old man between August 2021 and May 2022 to exploit him.
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