A wealthy Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu and his family are on trial in the UK over an alleged plot to harvest a street trader’s kidney for a transplant for their ill daughter.
Senator Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, daughter Sonia, and Nigerian doctor Obinna Obeta are all charged with conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with the intent to exploit.
According to prosecutor Hugh Davies, the family had significant wealth and influence but money and status could not guarantee good health for their daughter.
Offering a reward for a kidney donation is illegal in Britain. The family recruited a street trader in Lagos, promising him a reward and a chance to come to Britain, but the man only learned he was there for a kidney transplant after his first screening appointment at a London hospital.
The prosecution claims the planned donation by the former Deputy Senate President was not altruistic, but criminal.