Doctor Charged For Helping Nigerian Senator, His Wife To Traffick Homeless Man Into UK To Harvest His Kidney

A 50-year-old doctor has been accused of helping Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife to bring a homeless man into the UK to harvest a kidney for their daughter.

Obinna Obeta from Southwark, south London, is charged under the Modern Slavery Act, reported Daily Mail. The doctor apparently arranged the travel of a man, 21, with a view to him being exploited between August 2021 and May 2022. According to a second charge, he allegedly conspired with Ekweremadu to arrange the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited, namely organ harvesting.

MSN reported that Obeta’s case was heard on July 13 by Bexley magistrates and sent to the Old Bailey for trial.

Ekweremadu, who is a district senator and lawyer, and his wife, Beatrice, allegedly brought the 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK. They planned to have his kidney removed so that it could be given to their daughter, claimed prosecutors. After undergoing tests at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north-west London, the 21-year-old man is said to have refused to consent to the procedure. Before he escaped and went to Staines Police Station in Surrey.

The Ekweremadus allegedly treated him as a slave. On June 21, the husband and wife were arrested at Heathrow Airport after they arrived on a flight from Turkey. The two claimed that no exploitation occurred, and denied wrongdoing or that there was a criminal conspiracy.

The case involved "exploitation and the harvesting of an organ," prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said earlier. He added that the case began on May 5, 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." The lawyer added that the man arrived on Feb. 20, 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were done.

The prosecutor noted that for the purpose he was in the hospital, he "did not consent to the taking of his kidney." The man returned to the house where he was staying and his treatment dramatically changed. Probert-Wood said that the victim described being "treated effectively as a slave." The man allegedly escaped from the house and was homeless for three days before he went to the Staines Police Station.

Evening Standard reported that the Ekweremadus and Obeta, who are in custody, are set to appear at the Old Bailey on Aug. 4.