The twisted fate of the former Nigerian Deputy Senate President in the United Kingdom since Thursday is something any Nigerian politician could offer anything not to experience, not during this election season or anytime at all.
A criminal case in Nigeria is something a personality like Senator Ike Ekweremadu ordinarily would not lose sleep over by any stretch of imagination. However, in the United Kingdom the case is entirely different.
The full details of the organ harvest allegation is yet to emerge, but even with the little details that are already available in the public domain, Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu indeed has a lot on their plate.
THE CASE AGAINST EKWEREMADU
On Thursday, the Enugu born Senator, who currently represents Enugu West district in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, was arrested alongside his wife in the United Kingdom.
They were accused of conspiring to bring a child to the United Kingdom with the intention of organ harvesting, a known crime and punishable under the laws of the European country.
The Metropolitan Police news report about the incident tiled “Two people charged with conspiracy offences linked to allegations of organ harvesting”, which was update at 10:45 on Thursday reads as follows:
“A woman and a man were charged today (Thursday, 23 June) with conspiring to arrange the travel of a child into the UK in order to harvest organs.
The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team.
[A] Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
[B] Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.”
He was arraigned the same day before a Magistrate Court in Uxbridge presided over by Magistrate Lois Sheard, but was not released thereafter. Ekweremadu pleaded not guilty to the charges, but his bail application was denied and matter adjourned to July 7th 2022.
The UK Attorney General is reportedly reviewing the case with a view to deciding if the trial will continue on the adjourned date.
EKWEREMADU`S DENIAL
Ekweremadu `s family have admitted facilitating to bring an organ donor to the United Kingdom for their daughter currently in a UK hospital and awaiting organ transplant, which has been revealed as kidney transplant.
The UK hospital has also been identified as “Royal Free Hospital London” and the Ekweremadu`s daughter awaiting kidney transplant has been identified as “Ms Sonia Ekweremadu”.
However, the allegation that the organ donor was brought into the country for organ harvesting, which suggest a criminal intent to trade on the donor`s kidney has been flatly denied by the Ekweremadu`s family.
A reliable contact with link to the Ekweremadu family and a close ally of the Senator, Barr Zeph Onwuzulike, who spoke to Clariform reporter have reinforced the denial of the allegations, saying “Ikeoha didn’t and couldn`t have been involved in a thing like that.
“He is too good to soil his hands in such a thing, and of all places the UK? It is simply a misunderstanding which will surely be sorted out.”
He explained the circumstances under which the senator was arrested in the UK. He also that the news making the round that the organ donor was in the UK for the purpose of the transplant is not entirely true, though that will eventually be the case but sometime in future.
He said that the donor only arrived in the UK for a medical investigation on whether his kidney actually matches the patient, after which the transplant can then be arranged.
He therefore explained that “what they are saying in the social media that the senator was arrested after it was found out that he is an organ harvester otherwise he would have brought the right candidate for the transplant is not true at all. It is all fake news”, he said.
This explanation seem to agree with a letter the senator claims to have written to the British High Commission sometime in 2021 over an application for visa for his daughter, which he claims was to notify the UK authorities of a “medical investigations for a kidney donation to Ms Sonia Ekweremadu”, the daughter of the embattled senator.
The said letter reads in part, “I am writing in support of visa application made by Mr. Ukpo Nwamini David who is currently having medical investigations for a kidney donation to Ms Sonia Ekweremadu”
The source then explained that it is after the donor was scheduled to return to Nigeria that the whole matter became complicated.
According to him, the donor saw “the whole thing as an opportunity to seek asylum in the UK by making false claims, not minding how it affects the people who brought him to the UK”, he said.
He confirmed that it was the donor`s report to the UK that led to the arrest of the senator and his wife who now stand accused and already arraigned for an offence which the presiding Magistrate described as a “serious offence” in the UK.
CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIMS
Available information on the media, especially the social media space claims that the organ donor is a 15 year old minor. Clariform reports that the UK Metropolitan Police actually identified the donor as a “child”, even though he was neither identified as a girl nor even referred to as a “donor”.
The actual age was also not mentioned. Police statement only said that “A woman and a man were charged today (Thursday, 23 June) with conspiring to arrange the travel of a child into the UK in order to harvest organs.”
Positon of the police in limiting information about the donor would be because of the legal duty to protect a minor. Referring to the donor, the police report said, “A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support.”
However, the claim of been a child has been debunked by our source who is very familiar with the matter. He says the donor is not a child but an adult. “He is 21 years old and cannot be called a minor,” says the source.
Clariform reports that the said letter which Senator Ekweremadu allegedly wrote in support of the donor`s visa application actually referred to him as “Mr Ukpo Nwamini”, confirming that he is an adult male, at least because of the use of “Mr”.
Therefore, if the UK High Commission actually acted on the bases of this letter, then it presuppose that the visa authority accepted the donor to be an adult and not a minor. Else, the visa would not have been issued.
However, it is not impossible that new facts may have emerged about the actual age of the donor even after the visa was already issued, mostly beginning from when the investigation relating to organ harvesting was lunched. These and more will become clearer in days to come.
In the meantime, it is important to also mention that the same media sources have also reported details, which contradicts the claim of the British police that the organ donor is a minor.
For instance, the passport data page and UK visa of the said Mr Nwamini shows he was born on 12th October 2000, which is also collaborated by the Bank Verification Number (BVN) portal. A computation of this indicates he is actually 21 years old and not 15 years as also circulating in the media.
In conclusion therefore, it goes without saying that the only thing that is so far clear is that Senator Ekweremadu and wife are in detention in the UK and currently on trial for conspiracy for organ harvesting of a child.
The facts and merits of the case are as unclear and unstable as the weather condition in the United Kingdom, which changes almost by the hour. What really happened between the senator and his daughter`s kidney donor are still very sketch. However, neither the sketchy facts nor mere wishes can erase the fact that Senator Ike Ekweremadu, representing Enugu West constituency of Enugu State is in a very precarious situation at the moment.
