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Nigeria’s former deputy president of the Senate and his wife appeared in a London court on Tuesday (January 31) ahead of their organ harvesting trial, but were unable to attend because their accused daughter is hospitalized.
Ike Ekwelemadu, 60, showed up at the Old Bailey courthouse in a gray tracksuit top and spoke when asked to confirm his name.
He, along with his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia and a doctor, are accused of bringing a 21-year-old man from Nigeria to have a kidney removed.
Prosecutors said the defendant had planned to remove a kidney from the man so that it could be transplanted into Sonia.
She was unable to attend court as she is currently hospitalized for an unspecified condition.
Her defense team also filed a psychological report claiming she was unfit to stand trial.
The court adjourned shortly after convening for the prosecutor to read the report.
The accuser is said to have issued the warning after refusing to consent to the procedure after a preliminary examination at a North London hospital.
After the man turned himself in to police, he was charged. The Ekwelemadu couple were arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport in June last year after entering the UK.
Another man, Obinna Obeta, a 50-year-old doctor from South London, was later arrested.
The trial was brought forward from its scheduled date in May.
Ekwelemadu is a senator for the opposition People’s Democratic Party of Enugu state in southeastern Nigeria.
Mr. and Mrs. Ekweremadus and the doctor have been charged with conspiring to arrange the travel of others for the purpose of exploitation under British modern slavery law.
The crime was allegedly committed between August 2021 and May 2022.
Obeta was also taken into custody. Beatrice and Sonia Ekweremadu are out on conditional bail.
Beatrice, dressed all in black, sat next to her husband on the dock during a brief session on Tuesday morning.
Both supporters and protesters gathered around a London court ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
“I mean, this incident is unbelievable,” protester Citizen Gubola said.
“Where in the world do you think the Vice President of the Senate is? He’s still in the Senate, and he still gets his regular wages.”
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