For three weeks, British justice has held the trial of a Nigerian senator. Ike Ekweremadu is accused of organ trafficking: he allegedly brought a young man from Nigeria to London to remove a kidney from him for his 25-year-old daughter. The alleged victim began testifying on Monday.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
The young man, whose identity is prohibited by the courts, testifies to Nigeria where he resides. He recounts how, in 2022, intermediaries he met at his phone shop in Lagos brought him to London, allegedly for professional reasons, and encouraged him to invent “family connections” with Senator Ekweremadu.
In London, he meets the politician’s daughter, suffering from a kidney disease that requires regular dialysis. The young 21-year-old street vendor is taken to the hospital and cannot hide his “shock” when the doctors tell him about donating a kidney. ” I cried. I told the doctor that I didn’t know “, he tells the jurors.
Domestic slavery
Faced with his distress and his young age, the medical team decided not to take a kidney from him. He is then hosted by Dr. Obeta, an accomplice of the senator. The plaintiff accuses him of having also reduced him to domestic slavery. He finally escapes and alerts the police after spending several nights on the streets of London.
The doctor, the senator and his wife as well as their daughter refute all the charges of trafficking and slavery.