By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The attorney general of England and Wales, Sue-Ellen Braverman, will decide within 14 days if former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice, will face trial in the UK over allegations of human trafficking.
The couple were charged to the Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Thursday, and remanded in custody until July 7, pending further investigation.
Damla Ayas, the crown prosecutor, told the court that “part of the allegations” against the couple took place in Nigeria.
She said the case was “unique” and would require a decision Braverman on where the trial would be held.
The London Metropolitan Police had on Thursday announced that the Ekweremadus were charged to court over allegation of bringing a child to the UK for organ harvesting.
According to the police, they were charged following an investigation by the specialist crime team.
The police added that the investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
Ekweremadu had in December 2021 written a letter to the British High Commission in Nigeria backing the visa application of a potential kidney donor to his daughter.
He said the donor and his daughter “will be at the Royal Free Hospital London”, adding that he would “be providing the necessary funding.”
Although the donor is said to be 21 on his international passport, the Metropolitan Police said he claims to be 15 and is thus regarded as a minor.
The prosecution told the court that an appointment was made for the “teenager” at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, but the consultant refused to proceed because he had concerns “about the 15-year-old boy.”
He returned to the address of the Ekweremadus in London before reporting to a police station.
