The police said the charges followed an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team and gave some details of the accused.
The London Metropolitan Police have charged two Nigerians with conspiracy to traffic a child to the United Kingdom in order to harvest organs, the law enforcement said on Thursday.
The accused – a woman and a man – have the same names and ages as Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu.
The police said the charges followed an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team and gave some details of the accused as follows:
[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.
“The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022,” the police said.
The pieces of biographical data provided match the publicly available personal data of Mr Ekweremadu, a serving senator and former Deputy Senate President, and his wife.
From the Pandora Papers investigation, it was learnt that Mr Ekweremadu is a UK resident.
Mr Ekweremadu’s spokesperson, Uche Anichukwu, has been contacted but has yet to respond to our questions as of the time of this report.
“They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court later today,” Met said.
Sources contacted London Met for more information.
“As criminal proceedings are now underway we will not be providing further details,” Met said.
While the police did not state the gender of the child, they said “A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support.”
BREAKING: Letter Shows Ekweremadu Sought UK Visa For Boy To ‘Donate Kidney’ To Daughter![]()
More details have emerged in the arrest and detention of Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, by the UK Metropolitan Police Service.
The UK police had announced on Thursday that Senator Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested and charged in the country for alleged “organs trafficking”.
A statement published on the UK police website said the duo was “charged today with conspiring to arrange the travel of a child into the UK in order to harvest organs” and would be appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Hours after reports of their arrest, details have emerged that the serving Nigerian Senator wrote to the British High Commission, Abuja, on December 28, 2021, 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”.
Sonia, according to sources findings shows it is one of the daughters of Ekweremadu who graduated from a UK university in 2019.
In the letter, the Senator told the British Embassy that “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.”
The UK police had said the lawmaker and his wife were arrested following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team.
“The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
“A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support. As criminal proceedings are now underway we will not be providing further details,” read the UK police statement.
