Ike Ekweremadu, the former Deputy Senate President, is the Nigerian street trader at the center of an alleged organ-harvesting plot. He told judges he thought he was going to work in Britain.
Ike Ekweremadu, the former Deputy Senate President, is the Nigerian street trader at the center of an alleged organ-harvesting plot. He told judges he thought he was going to work in Britain.
The young man testified on Monday at the Old Bailey that he had no idea why he was being taken to the doctor, as reported by the Irish News.
Before an appointment at the Royal Free Hospital, he admitted that he was being “controlled” and told to lie about having a family connection to the Ekweremadus.
The Old Bailey has been told that a doctor at the north London hospital came to the conclusion that he was not a good match to be a donor for Sonia Ekweremadu, who is 25 years old.
Ekweremadu, 60; his 56-year-old wife; Sonia, 25, and Obinna Obeta, a 50-year-old medical “middleman,” are accused of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the young man’s trip to Britain in order to exploit him.
According to the young man, who was 21 at the time of the incident, he believed he would be working in Britain.
In addition, he informed the court that he was born and raised in a Nigerian village, the eldest of nine children to his carpenter parents.
The court heard that he attended a village school until he was 15 years old, when he left because his parents needed money.
He claimed that his uncle gave him work selling phone accessories and took him to live with him in Lagos.
After four years, he started his own business, making N3,000 to N4,000 per day by selling phone accessories from a wheelbarrow in the market.
Hugh Davies KC, the prosecutor, inquired about how he got to fly to London from Lagos.
“Obinna (Obeta) is the man who brought me here to this country,” stated the witness, who gave evidence via video link with the assistance of an interpreter.
He started talking about moving to London after I told him that I run a business in Lagos selling phone accessories.
“He’s going to take me to London, let me stay at his house, and I’m going to work there,”
The court heard how he went to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to take tests and had pictures taken of his passport taken.
He told judges that he didn’t see his passport again until the day he went to the UK, when he went for a visa interview.
“What did you think you were going to do when you came to London?” Mr. Davies inquired.
He responded, “To work, any kind of work for which I would be compensated.”
He claimed that Dr. Obeta was providing him with assistance because he was “from God.”
The man was shown having a meal with Sonia Ekweremadu and smiling into the camera after traveling to the UK.
Later that week, the victim disclosed that he was taken by Dr. Obeta to the Royal Free Hospital for his consultation. He disclosed that during the course of the me, those present “only discuss for themselves” and did not ask him any questions.
Before he could begin working, he informed judges that he believed it was for a test.
They allegedly met another woman and a tall Nigerian man who had escorted him on the plane before going inside.
He stated to judges, “They used to discuss alone. I would simply be told where to stay by Obinna. Like they were controlling me.
They informed me that I would visit the doctor. I will receive the response to the question I am being asked by the doctor.
He was allegedly instructed to fabricate the claims that he and Sonia Ekweremadu were cousins and had attended a “higher institution” school.
He continued, “Obinna told me that if the doctor asks me if they give me money or pay me for doing what I want, I should tell the doctor they don’t pay me.”
“He gave me a lot of answers to give the doctor, but everything was false,” I said.
The court heard that an interpreter told him that what he was doing was “not a small thing” as soon as he entered the hospital.
The witness, on the other hand, stated, “I don’t understand the woman when she said what they brought me to do was not a small thing because I did not know why they bring me to the hospital.”
The Ekweremadus, who reside in Willesden Green in north-west London, and Dr. Obeta, who hails from Southwark in south London, both deny the charge that has been leveled against them, and the Old Bailey trial continues.