Alleged organ harvesting: Ekweremadu’s wife gets bail, husband denied

Beatrice, the wife of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has been granted bail amid a trial over alleged organ harvesting.

The lawmaker was, however, denied bail.

It is alleged Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu, brought the 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the United Kingdom.

Prosecutors claim they planned to have his kidney removed so it could be given to their daughter.

According to a report by Daily Mail on Monday, Beatrice was granted bail when she appeared before the central criminal court in London, better known as the Old Bailey, on Friday.

“The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions but I have refused bail to Ike,” Daily Mail quoted the Common Serjeant of London, judge Richard Marks, to have ruled.

Prosecutors are not appealing the decision, the court heard.

Prosecutor, Tim Probert-Wood, said previously that the case involved ‘exploitation and the harvesting of an organ.’

“The case began on 5 May 2022 when the complainant presented himself at Staines Police Station and claimed he had been transported to this country for the purpose of his kidney being removed.

“He arrived on 20th February 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were conducted.

“For the purpose he was there he did not consent to the taking of his kidney.

“He returned to the house he was staying and his treatment changed dramatically.

“He described being treated effectively as a slave.”

Meanwhile, a United Kingdom-based doctor has been detained for allegedly conniving with Ekweremadu, and his wife to traffic a homeless man into the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter.

The doctor, Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south London, is charged under the Modern Slavery Act.

Obeta, who appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 13 July, is charged with arranging the travel of 21-year-old Davi Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK.

He is also accused of conspiring with the lawmaker to arrange or facilitate the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited through organ harvesting.