Daughter of a former deputy senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Sonia, has denied trafficking a man, David Ukpo, into the United Kingdom to harvest his kidney for herself.
Sonia Ekweremadu, 25, is charged alongside her father, mother, Beatrice Ekweremadu and a Nigerian medical doctor, Obinna Obeta.
Ekweremadu, Beatrice and Obeta denied conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation at the Old Bailey on December 20, 2022 while Sonia pleaded not guilty yesterday.
It is alleged that they conspired with others and another family member, Isaac Ekweremadu, who remains in Nigeria, to arrange the travel of a 21-year-old Ukpo with a view to exploiting him between August 1, 2021 and May 5, 2022.
It was claimed that the group arranged his travel from Lagos to London to remove one of his kidneys for Sonia, who has a kidney-related disease.
Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu were arrested after the young man who previously lived on the streets of Lagos, claimed he was a victim of trafficking at Staines Police Station.
The man told officers he arrived in the UK on February 20, 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital for tests, none of which he consented to.
After the tests, the man said he returned to the house he was 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 trial will begin at the Old Bailey on January 31 before High Court judge, Mr Justice Adam Johnson.
Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were arrested in the UK on June 21, 2022 after flying to Heathrow from Turkey.
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