In trying to save a daughter from dying, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice have attracted the hand of justice into their lives.
They are being prosecuted in the UK for allegedly luring a young man from Nigeria to have his organ removed for their ill daughter Sonia, who is also on trial.
The legislator was detained and incarcerated last year when the young guy complained to UK authorities about their claimed plans to harvest his organ.
The young man, a trader from Lagos, was to receive compensation of £80,000 for donating a kidney to Sonia at the Royal Free Hospital in London, according to Daily Mail.
Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President of the Nigerian Senate, said in court in London that his doctor had cautioned him against looking for a kidney donor among his family members.
During cross-examining the lawmaker, Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said: “On the question of whether a family member could, in principle, act as a donor, you decided that was not possible based on a reported conversation between your non-nephrologist brother and Dr Obeta, a non-nephrologist?”
In response, Ekweremadu said: “He would have had basic knowledge. I’m not a doctor, so if he says so, I believe him”.
However, Davies noted that, “all you had to do, rather than rely on a second-hand account from non-nephrologists, was to ask one of the specialists you were consulting whether a family member could donate a kidney”.
Ekweremadu Denies claims
Ekweremadu claimed he had “limited intelligence,” which the prosecutor denied, saying: “That is absurd. You are intelligent enough.
“The truth is you did not even try to ask Sonia’s cousins, for example, to consider participating as a donor.
“What you’re saying is that you didn’t want anyone in your family, either close or far, to volunteer to give Sonia a kidney.” Davies stated.
“Far better to buy one and let the medical risk go to someone you don’t know.”
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Ekweremadu responded by saying “it’s not true” that he agree to go through agent to get kidney donor for his daughter.
Davies said in response: “The pattern of communication reflects none of the type of human communication and contact you would expect if you and your family had believed that (the proposed donor) was a good Samaritan.
“The transplant with (the donor), not having gone ahead, you and your family then immediately sought to recruit further donors for reward, transferring jurisdiction out of the UK to Turkey.
“That failed too because even that donor had not been trained properly to give the false answers when interviewed”.
Defendant Dismissed Claim
The defendant dismissed the prosecutor’s claims, saying, “These are not the facts.”
Davies continued, “You did not move away from the Royal Free clinical team because they lacked expertise.
“When another donor was required, you immediately sought to transfer the clinical process to Turkey”.
On why the Ekweremadus had been prepared to leave an “internationally recognised centre of excellence” in London for an unknown quantity in Turkey, the lawmaker replied Davies, saying treatment in Turkey was cheaper.
“You were looking to cut shortcuts on your daughter’s clinical outcome to save money,” Mr. Davies retorted. “Senator, you were a wealthy man,” Davies responded.
The defendant, who has numerous houses in Nigeria and Dubai and sent his children to private schools, reportedly denied having a wealthy family, according to Daily Mail.
Ekweremadu is still being held while his family and a medical “middleman,” Dr. Obinna Obeta, are being tried in the Old Bailey.
