By Olusegun Olanrewaju, with agency reports
Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday appeared in a United Kingdom (UK) court with his wife, Beatrice, over an alleged plot to traffic a homeless 15-year-old boy into the United Kingdom (UK) for the harvest of his organs to heal his ailing daughter.

The Ekweremadus were accused by the British police of trying to traffic the unfortunate boy to the UK from Lagos, in a messy organ trafficking deal.

According to the court, the couple who have four children and a house in Willesden, North London, hoped to transplant the boy’s organs to their daughter who allegedly suffers from kidney failure.

According to reports, the police said they had earlier been alerted to potential offences under modern slavery laws last month, only to arrest the couple two days ago at Heathrow Airport before they flew to Turkey.

Officials of the London Metropolitan Police say the child is now under the care of safeguarding authorities.

Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 55, were charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

At Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the senator was spotted wearing a grey sweater, while his wife was wearing a black and white-knitted cardigan.

The prosecutor, Damla Ayas, said, “It is a conspiracy, concerning human trafficking offences, for organ harvesting. The victim, in this case, is 15 years old. The couple was interviewed at the police station. Both defendants provided a prepared statement.”

“We don’t have classroom seats, science labs,” Taraba students cry out

The charges involve arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting, according to a Met statement yesterday.

The victim whose travel was facilitated to the UK by the suspects was said to be a homeless 15-year-old boy, allegedly picked from the streets of Lagos under false pretence.

The statement added that the investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.

The BBC reports that when the suspects appeared at the Uxbridge magistrate’s court in west London yesterday and were asked by the clerk for their address, they both replied, Nigeria.

The court heard the prosecution needed permission to proceed because of jurisdiction issues, according to the BBC report.
“In respect of these offences, the (UK) Attorney General’s consent is required and the Crown requires 14 days for that to be obtained,” Prosecutor Damla Ayas told the court.

Most of the alleged offences took place in the UK, magistrates heard.
The Ekweremadus, who were arrested two days ago, have been remanded in custody to appear at the same court on July 7.

*Denies trafficking anyone for organ transplant

Meanwhile, Ekweremadu through his lawyer, Gavin Irwin, told the court that at no stage did he arrange transport for anyone with intention to exploit them.

According to Daily Mail, Irwin 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 than he has led a blameless life as a public servant.”

Antonia Gray, who represented Mrs Ekweremadu, said her client has never been complicit or involved in any alleged illegal trafficking of any young person.

“She is a financial accountant with an unblemished record,” he added.

*Indicative letter

Meanwhile, a letter addressed to the visa section of the British High Commission by the embattled former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu over a medical trip to his ailing daughter and a donor, reports said last night, has surfaced.

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were said to have been arrested in London and arraigned at a magistrate court.

They were later remanded after the court rejected a bail application.

But the letter, a copy of which went viral online, showed that the senator informed the British High Commission in Nigeria of both the kidney donor and his daughter whose name was given as Sonia.

The letter had shown that the organ donor, Ukpo Uwamini David, and Sonia Ekweremadu, would be at the Royal Free Hospital, London for medical investigations.

“I have enclosed a statement of my account. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information,” the letter said.

*Ohanaeze, MASSOB disown ex-deputy senate president

Meanwhile, the frontline pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, has distanced itself from the travails of the erstwhile deputy senate president.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, in its reaction, described the arrest of Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, by the UK police on allegations of child’s organ harvest, as the height of “monstrosities and atrocities against humanity”, adding that they should be allowed to face the consequences of their actions in the UK.

Osun will be more difficult for APC to win – Abdullahi Adamu

The news of the arrest of the highly-placed senator and his wife startled Ndigbo and Nigerians,” Ohanaeze said in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro.

It added, “At first, we thought it would be a similarity or names resemblance, but the confirmation of his arrest and after he was paraded before a UU Magistrate Court, prompted the Igbo leadership to strip off all titles and privileges accorded to him as an Ime Obi member (the apex decision-making organ of Ohanaeze), based on the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s call on the good people of Enugu West senatorial zone to initiate the process of his recall from the senate.

“He deserves to be flushed into the dustbin of history. This anathema is condemned in strong words, and must come with strict sanctions against Ekweremadu.”
Ndigbo, Ohanaeze added, will not condone such actions in Igboland, especially those who dishonoured the people he represents in the senate.

According to the apex Igbo organisation, “The stigma of these allegations will torment Ekweremadu and his wife, and we doubt if he can recover from the despicable charges that might end his political sojourn as the Senator representing the Enugu West senatorial zone”.

Also, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday expressed delight over the arrest and detention of Ekweremadu and his wife in London over alleged organ harvesting.

In its response, MASSOB said Ekweremadu was suffering from the sabotage campaign, leaning against ‘national justice’, and Peter Obi emerging as the next president of Nigeria.

Gunmen abduct Traditional ruler in Ebonyi

”We are ashamed of these sacrilegious and irresponsible acts of a so-called national leader. What kind of monetary inducement will make Ike Ekweremadu and his wife stoop so low for this criminality if not they are mentally slaved and subjected by the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy as political errand boy and girl?

”Ike Ekweremadu and all his political gangs from South-East involved in campaigns of thwarting the emergence of a competent president that will redeem the future of the Nigeria youths will experience similar shames like their bought master,” MASSOB said.

The group reiterated that it shall continue in its competent, unshakable, and uncompromised stand, for the actualisation of a sovereign state of Biafra.

Also, a self-acclaimed disciple of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, Simon Ekpa, has reacted to the report.

Ekpa, in a tweet on his official Twitter handle, yesterday, described the news as the worst crime on earth.

He tweeted, “Ike Ekweremadu trafficking a child for organ harvest is the worst crime on earth. This will show how evil they are and the reason we the new generation can never allow these criminals to be part of Biafra restoration. They will fight to remain in Nigeria where their crimes are covered.”