By Enyichukwu Enemanna
It is not the best of times for the former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, as the duo are currently explaining their involvement in a case of suspected organ harvesting in the United Kingdom.
The identity of the “victim” who was said to have been flown from Nigeria to UK has however been revealed.
A popular social media influencer, Maria Ude Nwachi had shared the picture of the said victim on Friday who goes by the name, David Nwamini Ukpo, a native of Izzi in Ebonyi state.
On his Facebook page, he goes by the name Davido Nwamini and claims to live in London, United Kingdom.
Ekweremadu and his wife were on Thursday arrested at Heathrow airport, on their way to Istanbul, Turkey.
The prosecutors also told a London court that the Ekweremadus have a daughter who has a kidney-related disease and has been on dialysis for quite some time.
They told the court that it is believed that the plan was to use an organ from the boy on their daughter who appears to need a kidney transplant.
The process however could not proceed as the doctors at Royal Free hospital in the UK enquired to know the real age of the boy who had earlier given consent to the transplant.
David Nwamini Ukpo told the doctors that he is 15-years-old, contradicting the age on the passport allegedly produced by Ekweremadu which indicates that the boy is an adult of 21-years-old.
According to the prosecutors, the boy was taken from a family where he was treated like a slave.
He however escaped and found his way to the police where an investigation started, leading to the arrest of the couple.
Prosecutors claim that Ekweremadu’s journey to Istanbul, Turkey is not unconnected with efforts to secure another organ for the treatment of their daughter as the previous attempt failed.
The duo have been remanded in custody to appeared at the Uxbridge magistrates court in west London on July 7.
Social media users have however disputed the claim by the boy that he is only 15.
Nnadozie Nicholas wrote, “The under age boy? Ok . He is looking for a way to run out of Nigeria. He must come back.”
Lawrence Chika Nwokpoku said, “He’s not a minor and should be charged for breach of contract”
When arrested, Ekweremadu was said to be in possession of $20,000.
The lawmaker, a member of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, has been a Senator since 2003. He served as Deputy President of the Senate from 2007 to 2019.
