A court in the UK has granted Beatrice – wife of the former deputy senate president – Ike Ekweremedu – bail.
Her husband, the lawmaker representing Enugu West senatorial district, was however, denied bail.
The Ekweremadus appeared at the Old Bailey Friday for a bail hearing following a charge preferred against them by the UK Metropolitan Police in June: conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person for organ harvesting.
The police alleged Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife, Beatrice. 55, brought the 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK, where prosecutors said the couple planned to harvest his kidney so it could be given to their daughter who’s diagnosed with kidney failure in a UK hospital.
“The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions but I have refused bail to Ike,” Daily Mail quoted the Common Serjeant of London, judge Richard Marks, as ruling.
Prosecutors are not appealing the decision, the court heard.
Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said previously that the case involved “exploitation and the harvesting of an organ.”
“The case began on 5 May 2022 when the complainant presented himself at Staines Police Station and claimed he had been transported to this country for the purpose of his kidney being removed.
“He arrived on 20th February 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were conducted.
“For the purpose he was there he did not consent to the taking of his kidney.
“He returned to the house he was staying and his treatment changed dramatically.
“He described being treated effectively as a slave.”
Kaaynan.com reported that a Nigerian UK-based doctor was accused of conniving with the Ekweremadus to traffic a homeless man into the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter.
The doctor, Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south London, is charged under the Modern Slavery Act.
Obeta, who appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 13 July, is charged with arranging the travel of 21-year-old Davi Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK.
He is also accused of conspiring with the lawmaker to arrange or facilitate the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited through organ harvesting.
The case continues in the court on August 4.
