A wealthy Nigerian family plotted to bring a desperately poor street trader to the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter, a London court has heard.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia and medical ‘middleman’ Dr Obinna Obeta allegedly conspired to exploit the 21-year-old man for the body part. All deny the charges.
The victim, who eked out a living on the streets in Nigeria selling mobile phones, was offered up to £7,000 ($8,444) plus the promise of work and a life in the UK, the prosecution alleged.
As part of the plot to obtain the kidney, “elaborate” steps were taken to create the false impression that their daughter, 25, and her proposed donor were cousins, the Old Bailey court was told.
Hugh Davies KC, prosecuting, said Mr Ekweremadu, 60, a senior senator in the Nigerian Parliament, and his 56-year-old wife were “significant figures” in Nigerian society.
“His status and influence had produced a significant degree of wealth. They had international connections,” he said.
“There are, however, certain things that money and status cannot guarantee in any family and they include good health.”
Their daughter had a “significant and deteriorating” kidney condition that could be managed through dialysis but cured with a transplant, the court heard.
The proposed donor, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was allegedly recruited in Lagos, Nigeria.
“Relative to the wider medical costs of the process — measured in tens of thousands of pounds — which would have been done privately, his reward was to be a small fraction of the whole,” Mr Davies said.
“To him — a street trader from Lagos — these sums and rewards were significant.”
Under English law, it is lawful for someone to donate a kidney but illegal to reward someone for doing so, jurors heard.
The man was transported to London in February last year under the “direction and financial control” of the alleged plotters, Mr Davies said.
As part of the deception, the young man was purported to be Sonia’s cousin, with the family connection used to obtain a temporary visa to travel to the UK, the court was told.
He was coached to give false answers to doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, west London, and help to create a fake family history, Mr Davies said.
Jurors were told that until his initial appointment with a hospital consultant, the man had not realised he was there to donate a kidney.
He was said by the consultant to have “limited understanding” of his intended role in the matter, and was “visibly relieved” on being told the operation would not go ahead, the court heard.
“More widely, the prosecution contends that (the donor) was subject to a high degree of control throughout and was dependent on what he was told for his understanding,” the prosecution said.
Mr Davies said the case was not about the motivation but what the defendants were prepared to do to cure Sonia’s kidney condition.
“Most parents, whether powerful or not in society, will do whatever is necessary to alleviate suffering in their child," he said.
“The Ekweremadus were no different: the evidence — from downloads from their mobile phones, and wider actions — demonstrates a close, open and loving family each with an understandable and direct interest in Sonia’s medical treatment.”
The jury was told Sonia Ekweremadu has yet to undergo a kidney transplant and remains on dialysis.
The three Ekweremadus, from Willesden Green, north-west London, and Dr Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south-east London, deny conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man with a view to exploitation between August 1, 2021 and May 5, 2022.
The trial continues.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
Company%20Profile
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The five pillars of Islam
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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The specs: 2018 Bentley Bentayga V8
Price, base: Dh853,226
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 550hp @ 6,000pm
Torque: 770Nm @ 1,960rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L / 100km
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
