Organ Harvesting: Photos Of The Boy Taken To The United Kingdom By Senator Ekweremadu

The picture of the alleged 15-year-old boy who was taken to the United Kingdom by a former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu surfaced on social media.

The boy identified as David Ukpo Nwamini was flown to the UK to donate one of his kidneys to Ike Ekweremadu’s daughter who has a kidney ailment.

Newsflash Nigeria had earlier reported that the Specialist Crime Team of the Metropolitan Police in London had arrested Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice.

Our correspondents learnt that Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested on Tuesday at the Heathrow Airport in London en route to Istanbul in Turkey and detained on allegations of child trafficking and organ harvesting after they had flown David to the UK for a kidney transplant.

They were arraigned before a UK Magistrate court on Thursday. Ekweremadu and his wife were subsequently denied bail in court, and the case was adjourned to July 7 for further hearing.

According to the court proceedings, as reported by Arise TV monitored by one of our correspondents, Ekweremadu and Beatrice appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.

The station reported, “The alleged victim, in this case, is a homeless 15-year-old boy who was brought to the UK by Mr and Mrs Ekweremadu off the streets of Lagos, Nigeria.

“They are both charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with the aim of exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

“They conspired to bring a child from Nigeria, a 15-year-old boy to harvest his organ; the boy was promised a better life. The prosecutors told the court that the former Deputy Senate President procured a passport for the boy and claimed he was 21 years old but discovered that he was 15 years old.

“The court learnt that Ekweremadu’s daughter had been battling with kidney failure and has been on dialysis for a while and needed a kidney transplant. So, the boy was brought in to give one of his kidneys to the daughter.”

Reports said the doctor billed to perform the transplant suspended it after learning that the boy identified as Ukpo David, was a minor.

AriseTV further reported that the court heard, “The Royal Free (hospital) cancelled the procedure and returned the boy to the custody of the family who treated him badly and he had to run away and slept on the streets for two days.

“It was while sleeping on the streets that the boy went to the police who investigated the matter and arrested the Ekweremadus at the Heathrow Airport on their way to Istanbul, Turkey, to procure another organ because they were unable to harvest the boy’s organ.

“Ekweremadu was arrested with $20,000 in his possession which has been seized.”

The senator and his wife got legal representation and begged the court for bail, stating that their passports had been seized but the judge denied them bail and remanded them in custody till July 7, 2022.

However, a letter written to the British High Commission in Abuja in which the embattled senator sought a visa for Ukpo later surfaced on social media.

The letter dated December 28, 2021, titled, “Re: Medical visa application for Ukpo David,’ read, “I am writing in support of the visa application made by Mr Ukpo Nwamini David who is currently having medical investigations for a kidney donation to Ms Sonia Ekweremadu.

“David and Sonia will be at the Royal Free Hospital London, and I will be providing the necessary funding. I have enclosed a statement of my bank account. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information.”

Meanwhile, the British High Commission told one of our correspondents that it was aware of the case.

The commission’s spokesman, Dean Hurlock, however, refused to confirm if the Mission received Ekweremadu’s letter.

Hurlock said, “We are aware that the Metropolitan Police in the UK have charged two people with conspiracy offences linked to allegations of organ harvesting. As this is a live UK police investigation, I am obliged to tell you to contact the Met office if you have any questions related to this.”

But the Met Police declined to comment on the case, stating that the case was in court.

Shortly after the news of Ekweremadu’s arrest, David Ukpo shared a cool photo of himself on his Facebook handle with the caption;

“Grace sweet

Let us keep hustling”

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