UK Police, Judicial Office Pass The Buck On Ekweremadu’s Health

Authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) appear to be evasive over the reported health status of former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently in detention while facing charges of alleged organ harvesting in the UK.

Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia, had through her verified instagram page on Monday, revealed that her father has been “diagnosed with acute kidney damage while being incarcerated in London.”

LEADERSHIP had contacted the London Metropolitan Police on Tuesday for enquiries on the health status of the lawmaker, as claimed by his daughter. However, the agency through Pete Davey, from the Press Bureau of the Directorate of Media and Communications, Metropolitan Police Service,    declined comments on the matter and referred our correspondent to the UK Ministry of Justice even as he sounded less optimistic about any response from there.

He told our correspondent that “This would be for the Ministry of Justice, though I’d suggest they’d be unlikely to discuss a person’s medical situation with you.”

Our correspondent then reached out to the press officer of the Judicial Office in London, Jonathan Irwin, and he offered no help but rather referred our correspondent back to the Metropolitan Police and or the Crown Prosecution Service.

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‘’This is not something the Judicial Office can help you with, I’m afraid. I’d advise you to contact the Metropolitan Police and/or the Crown Prosecution Service, who may be able to help,” he said.

This back-and-forth experience with the agencies is suggestive of the policy of the UK authorities not to disclose personal health status of particularly a suspect facing trial in the country.

In June Ekweremadu, and his wife Beatrice were arrested in London and charged   with conspiracy to allegedly traffic a child to the United Kingdom in order to harvest his organs. It was later discovered that the alleged victim of the organ harvest was 21-year-old David Ukpo, according to official records from the Nigerian authorities.

Ekweremadu’s wife has since been released but the lawmaker’s request for bail has been turned down by the Westminster Magistrate Court. The court had earlier ruled that David Ukpo, a purported Kidney donor for the daughter of Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu, is not a minor.