The case against the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice, in the United Kingdom may as well be collapsing like a pack of cards.
This is because fresh evidence obtained from the international passport of David Ukpo Nwamini, the supposed organ donor to Ekweremadu’s daughter, revealed he (Nwamini) is 21 years old.
Ekweremadu and the wife were arrested by the Metropolitan Police at the Heathrow Airport in London and charged with the crime of conspiracy to arrange to bring a child to the UK to harvest organs.
A statement by the Metropolitan Police said the pair were charged to court on Thursday following an investigation by the police’ specialist crime team.
“Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting,” the statement reads.
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“Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
“They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court later today.”
“A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support.
“As criminal proceedings are now under way we will not be providing further details.”
But facts that have emerged since Thursday prove contrary.
For instance, Nwamini’s international passport discloses that he is actually a 21-year-old man, thus an adult contrary to the claims of the Metropolitan Police that he is a minor aged 15 years.
Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, were arrested and detained in the United Kingdom for allegedly trafficking Nwamini for the purpose of harvesting his organ for their ailing daughter suffering from kidney failure.
They were arraigned before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and denied bail.
The case was adjourned until July 7 for hearing.
But contrary to the claims made by the British Police that David was a minor kidnapped to be exploited in the UK, Ekweremadu had actually written the United Kingdom High Commission ahead of the visit on December 28, 2021 and backed Nwamini’s visa application on the ground that he was coming to the United Kingdom for medical investigation with regards to an organ transplant.
However, it appeared that the boy was inappropriate to be a donor on the account that he claimed that he was 15 and was trafficked to the United Kingdom by the Ekweremadus.
However, evidence now available through his travelling passport has shown that Nwamini is actually 21, having been born on October 12, 2000.
The revelation of his age as 21 is expected to bring succour to the politician and his family held by the Metropolitan Police in UK.
Not only that, it has also been revealed that contrary to the claim that the “boy” was plucked from the village and taken to London, he may actually have been living in Lagos.
A businessman and laptop engineer, Oyekan Tobi, told the Vanguard newspaper that David Ukpo Nwanmini who was allegedly taken to the United Kingdom for organ harvesting by the former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife is not a 15-year-old boy.
Tobi, who is also a postgraduate student of the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Ogba Lagos, spoke after the passport of the alleged 15-year-old boy surfaced online.
According to him, the boy on the passport with the name David is from Ebonyi State and assists his elder brother, Linus, in the market with customers.
“His elder brother deals in phone accessories, it is false to say the boy is 15 years old because a boy of 15 years won’t have that energy to be dragging customers in the market with other boys. He’s not a boy you can slap on the way and walk away easily. Hence, he should be in his 20s,” he said.
Asked when last he saw David in the Ikotun market, Tobi said it has been a while.