Sen. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife – Beatrice – today pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking and organ harvesting preferred against them in the UK.
The former deputy senate president and his wife were present at Westminster Magistrates Court for the continuation of their trial.
The Ekweremadus were arrested by the Metropolitan Police on June 23 on allegations of human trafficking and organ harvesting, a violation of the country’s Modern Slavery Act.
The police had accused the lawmaker of conspiring to bring a 15-year-old child into the UK for organ harvesting.
But the court today accepted that the purported organ donor – David Ukpo – in Ekweremadu’s case is not a minor, saying the prosecution had accepted that he is 21 years old.
Gavin Irwin represented Ekweremedu while Szilvia Booker represented his wife.
A high-powered Nigerian delegation was in court for the trial.
The court thereafter denied the couple bail and fixed August 4 as the date for the next hearing.
