Sonia, the daughter of a Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday appeared in court accused of trafficking a homeless man into the United Kingdom to harvest his organs for herself.
Sonia, the daughter of federal lawmaker Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday appeared in court over the accusation of trafficking a homeless man into the United Kingdom to harvest his organs for herself.
According to the Daily Mail, the younger Ekweremadu was accused alongside her father, Ike Ekweremadu, 60, her mother Beatrice Ekweremadu, 56, and 50-year-old doctor Obinna Obeta, of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
It was reported that Ms Ekweremadu has not entered a plea, but a trial date has been set for January 31, 2023.
It was claimed that Sonia and the accused facilitated the man’s travel from Lagos to London to remove one of his kidneys.
Prosecutors claim the plot was to harvest the man’s organ for Sonia’s benefit.
Sonia has a kidney-related disease and has been on dialysis for some time, the court has been told.
They were arrested after the young man, who previously lived on the streets of Lagos, turned up at Staines police station, claiming he was the victim of trafficking.
The man told officers he had arrived in the UK on February 20 this year and had been taken to Royal Free Hospital for tests, none of which he consented to.
The Daily Mail added that after these tests, the man said he had returned to the house he had been staying in, where he was ‘treated effectively as a slave’.
He said he escaped the address and was homeless for three days before going to the police.
The Metropolitan Police have arrested and charged Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice. They were arrested in the UK on June 21 after flying into Heathrow from Turkey, bringing a child to the UK for organ harvesting.
Ike and Obeta are currently on remand in the HMP Wandsworth and HMP Belmarsh, respectively. They did not appear in court today.
Beatrice was granted bail at a hearing in July and appeared in court today wearing a black head wrap and a long black coat.
Sonia is also on bail and appeared alongside her mother, wearing a knitted, patterned sweater vest.
The defendants were due to enter their pleas today, but further legal argument prevented this.
The trial has been brought forward from May to 31 January next year at the Old Bailey.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow said, “We are told that this court is in a position to accommodate the trial…three months earlier.
“If an earlier date can be offered, and one can be, then it should be taken.”
The trial will last four weeks, and a High Court judge will preside over the hearing.
The Ekweremadus and Obeta will next appear at the Old Bailey on 16 December this year.
