Former Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu has allegations that he offered cash to a would-be donor in exchange for a kidney for his sick daughter. The Enugu-born politician and his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia, and Obinna Obeta are accused of “conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man to Britain for alleged organ harvest.”

This is also as former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has decried the stalling of Sonia Ekweremadu’s kidney transplant by the UK authorities despite a myriad of donors from within and outside the UK following her appeal.

In their opening addresses at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, lawyers for Ekweremadu and his family members insisted that they believed the donor, who cannot be identified, was acting “altruistically”.

Martin Hicks KC, for Ekweremadu, told jurors: “Be alive please to the possible cultural differences between this country and that of Nigeria, particularly to altruistic donation.

“We say the issue, in this case, is simple – did there exist an agreement to exploit (the donor) in the way the prosecution alleges and if so who was a party to it?”

The politician’s case is that Dr Obeta had spoken to Ekweremadu’s medically trained brother Diwe in the autumn of 2021 and had offered to help find Sonia a prospective donor.

Mr Hicks added: “In Nigerian society, there is an expression ‘everyone is each other’s keeper’ and the altruistic donation of organs is not regarded there as such a rare event as it is in this country.

“He will also say he was told (the donor) had offered to altruistically donate a kidney to Sonia.

“He denies he put directly or indirectly any reward to (the donor) or offered to do so and throughout he believed (the donor) was content to do so without reward.”

According to Hicks, Ekweremadu’s only communication was through his brother Diwe and he relied on the “medical knowledge and standing” of the doctors involved.

Ekweremadu dismissed claims in support of the donor’s visa application to travel to the UK and was not privy to an online application which claimed the young man was related to Sonia.

Mr Hicks said Ekweremadu did not attend any visits to the Royal Free Hospital in February and March last year, which concluded that the donor was unsuitable.

He noted: “In April 2022 and with the assistance of Diwe he continued the family search for a suitable donor for his daughter Sonia and that search continues.

“We question whether (the donor) was exploited as suggested by the prosecution.”

Speaking on behalf of Sonia, John Femi-Ola KC said: “She suffers from very severe kidney disease. She receives dialysis treatment three days per week. Each session is for four hours.

“The treatment is for the rest of her life unless there is a transplant in the future which now must be much in doubt given the publicity this case has attracted.

“Her illness is life-threatening, life-limiting and potentially life-ending. Of course, her parents love her as do all her immediate family and friends.

“It may not surprise you to learn that everyone, in particular her parents, would wish to protect her against the emotional and psychological stress which you may think accompanies such a terrible illness.

“It is her case that she had no awareness of any reward or other material advantage offered to potential donors that came forward to help her.”

Femi-Ola suggested there was an “irony” in the case and questioned who the “real victim” was.

Anu Mohindru KC, for Beatrice, disputed the prosecution’s claim she was “kept up to speed” on what was going on, saying she was party to only a “tiny” amount of communication.

In her opening address, Sally Howes KC said her client Dr Obeta was in a “unique” position to help the Ekweremadus, having gone through a kidney transplant.

She said Dr Obeta’s donor, who also came from Lagos, was “voluntary and completely altruistic”.

She told jurors: “Through his work as a doctor of medicine in Nigeria, Obinna Obeta was both respected and admired.

“He had touched the lives of many and those people had a great affection for him.

“It is perhaps of little surprise that (his donor) was not the only donor willing to make the necessary kidney donation to the doctor for his transplant.”

She told jurors that his “medical knowledge combined with his own personal experience” put him in a “unique position” to help and advise.

She said: “He was motivated by his desire to help a fellow citizen because no one would understand the misery and pain like someone who had been through it themselves.”

Meanwhile, a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has decried the refusal of the UK government to allow Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia, to get a kidney transplant and save her life while the suit continued, insisting that Sonia had a right to life regardless of the outcome of the trial.

Chidoka made this appeal in a statement he posted to his Facebook page, Wednesday.

He said: “On Monday, I was at the London Criminal court to observe the trial of Ike, Beatrice, and Sonia Ekweremadu. Some weeks before I had visited him at Wandsworth Prison. He was in good spirits. Ike is a family friend, a close ally, and an associate. My prayers, thoughts, and good wishes are with them at this time.

“We have known each other for the past 30 years when he was a grad student and part-time lecturer at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus. His subsequent rise from Local Government Chairman to Deputy Senate President is a story for another day,” he wrote.

He, however, said that while he would not comment on the case since it was subjudice, he found “distressing” the
“refusal of the UK authorities to allow Sonia to get a kidney transplant despite a deluge of donors”.

“I think the Nigerian government and we the citizens must call on the UK authorities to allow her to get a kidney transplant in furtherance of her fundamental right to life.”

“No matter the outcome of the case, Sonia deserves a chance to live”, he stated.

Appealing to the FG for its intervention, Chidoka wrote, “I appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to please intervene in this serious issue of a possible violation of her right to life by the UK government.

An intervention will save Sonia’s life and will be in line with global examples of countries intervening on behalf of their citizens.”

A former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has urged the Federal Government to intervene in the alleged organ harvesting case of former lawmaker Ike Ekweremadu in the United Kingdom.

Chidoka, who decried the refusal of the UK government to allow Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia, to get a kidney transplant and save her life while the suit continued, begged the federal government to intervene, adding that Sonia had a right to life.

Chidoka made this appeal in a statement he posted to his Instagram page on Wednesday.

The ex-minister, who said he had known the ex-lawmaker for the past 30 years, stated that he witnessed the Monday proceeding of the suit against Ekweremadu and his family in London.

“On Monday, I was at the London Criminal court to observe the trial of Ike, Beatrice, and Sonia Ekweremadu. Some weeks before I had visited him at Wandsworth Prison. He was in good spirits. Ike is a family friend, a close ally, and an associate. My prayers, thoughts, and good wishes are with them at this time.

“We have known each other for the past 30 years when he was a grad student and part-time lecturer at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus. His subsequent rise from Local Government Chairman to Deputy Senate President is a story for another day,” he wrote.

He stated that while he would not comment on the case because it was still in court, he found “distressing” the
“refusal of the UK authorities to allow Sonia to get a kidney transplant despite a deluge of donors. I think the Nigerian government and we the citizens must call on the UK authorities to allow her to get a kidney transplant in furtherance of her fundamental right to life.

Chidoka added that “No matter the outcome of the case, Sonia deserves a chance to live.”

Appealing to the FG for its intervention, Chidoka wrote, “I appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to please intervene in this serious issue of a possible violation of her right to life by the UK government.

“An intervention will save Sonia’s life and will be in line with global examples of countries intervening on behalf of their citizens.”

Commending the Nigerian High Commission in the UK for monitoring the case as it develops, Chidoka said, “I am impressed the Nigerian High Commission has been and still is present as an observer at the trial”.

He concluded, “As for the current travails of the Ekweremadu family, I can only say: this too, shall pass.”

Source: The Sun