Ekweremadu: “Nobody told me about kidney transplant” – Victim

Ike Ekweremadu, the former vice president of the senate, is on trial in the UK for illegally harvesting organs, and the case has taken a new turn after the victim claimed that the Nigerian legislator failed to inform him that he needed a kidney transplant before bringing him to Europe.

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The 21-year-old street vendor from Lagos claimed that Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, flew him to London so that they could take his organs for their 25-year-old daughter Sonia, who has kidney disease.

The victim testified before an Old Bailey court that he had been sleeping on the streets for three nights prior to approaching Staines Police Station in May of last year and requesting help.

The Old Bailey court heard that he fled after medics determined he was not a viable candidate after jurors saw a photograph of him smiling and eating a meal with the accused recipient, Sonia Ekweremadu, the 25-year-old daughter of senior Nigerian politician Ike Ekweremadu.

But, when he entered the police station and spoke to the receptionist, he appeared to be crying and upset in body-worn footage that was played in court on Tuesday, February 21. He constantly informed the woman that he was brought into the country by a man he met in Lagos and that he had “no papers.”

He said at the police station: “He carried me to hospital to remove my kidneys. The doctor said I was too young but the man said if you do not do it here he would carry me back to Nigeria and do it there.

“I don’t know anywhere, I don’t know where I am. I was sleeping three days outside around, looking for someone to help me, save my life.”

Addressing jurors, he said: “Nobody told me about kidney transplant.”

He claimed to have been treated like a “slave” at the London house where he was staying in a videotaped interview with police. He claimed that he was instructed to proceed with the procedure in exchange for N1.2 million (about £2,000).

The victim added: “I was afraid because I don’t know what they are going to do to me.”

According to the prosecution’s testimony in court, despite receiving money, the victim had nowhere to stay, so he opted to seek for directions to a police station.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, their daughter Sonia, 25, and medical “middleman” Obinna Obeta, 50, are accused of colluding to set up or enable the young man’s visit to Britain with the intention of exploiting him.

The Old Bailey trial is still going on as the Ekweremadu’s, who have an address in Willesden Green, north-west London, and Obeta, from Southwark, south London, all deny the allegations.