Nigerian politician in UK court over organ-harvesting claims

| | London
1 2 3 4 5
  • 1

Nigerian politician in UK court over organ-harvesting claims

Tuesday, 07 February 2023 | AP | London

Nigerian politician in UK court over organ-harvesting claims

A senior Nigerian politician was on trial in London on Tuesday for allegedly exploiting a street trader by transporting him to the UK to donate a kidney in exchange for thousands of pounds.

Ike Ekweremadu, who was deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and a lawyer, was on trial along with his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, and their 25-year-old daughter Sonia at London's Central Criminal Court. They deny conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man with a view to exploitation between August 2021 and May 2022.

Prosecutors allege Ekweremadu and his family recruited a 21-year-old man at a Lagos street market to be a kidney donor for Sonia Ekweremadu in a private transplant operation at a London hospital.

Opening the trial on Monday, prosecutor Hugh Davies said Ike Ekweremadu and his wife were powerful figures in Nigerian society.

He said the 21-year-old man believed he was being taken to London for work, and that under the agreement the man would be paid thousands of pounds.

Kidney donations are lawful in the UK but it is a criminal offence to reward someone for doing so.

The donor was transported to London in February 2022, Davies said, adding that as part of the ruse the man was purported to be Sonia's cousin.

“The prosecution contends that (the donor) was subject to a high degree of control throughout and was dependent on what he was told for his understanding,” Davies told jurors.

The organ transplant didn't go ahead and Sonia Ekweremadu remains on dialysis treatment.

State Editions

Bureaucrats prepare 100-day action plan for ‘Viksit Delhi'

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Sikh leaders, victims' families welcome Sajjan Kumar's conviction

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Sajjan Kumar conviction: Timeline of events

13 February 2025 | SR | Delhi

Delhi BJP poll committees review Assembly results

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Gupta announces sixth DFC

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Winners' average vote share drops to 51 per cent

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Bureaucrats prepare 100-day action plan for ‘Viksit Delhi'

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Sikh leaders, victims' families welcome Sajjan Kumar's conviction

13 February 2025 | Staff Reporter | Delhi

Sunday Edition

Serene Retreat in the Aravallis

09 February 2025 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

Trump's Second Term: A new dawn for Indo-US relations

09 February 2025 | ANOOP BOSE | Agenda

Dumplings to dragon dance

09 February 2025 | Abhi Singhal | Agenda

Royal Flavours of Mughlai Cuisine

09 February 2025 | Abhi Singhal | Agenda

Swaad-e-dilli

09 February 2025 | SAKSHI PRIYA | Agenda

Serene Retreat in the Aravallis

09 February 2025 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

Trump's Second Term: A new dawn for Indo-US relations

09 February 2025 | ANOOP BOSE | Agenda