The Westminster Magistrates Court, UK, on Thursday accepted that the kidney donor in the case of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice is age 21.
The British police arrested Ekweremadu and his wife on June 23 on allegations of human trafficking and organ harvesting of a minor. This, according to the UK, violated its Modern Slavery Act.
The police authorities had accused the lawmaker of conspiring to bring a child to the UK for organ harvesting, claiming that the victim was a 15-year-old boy.
During the continuation of the case, the prosecution accepted that the victim is 21 years old.
The court thereafter fixed August 4 as the date for the next hearing.
Just yesterday, the Federal High Court Abuja ordered the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to transmit the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the biodata information of an alleged Minor to the Attorney General of the Federation for onward transmission to the UK to aid Ekweremadu’s trial.
The lawmaker’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, on July 27 urged Justice Inyang Ekwo to order the release of certain official documents of Ukpo domiciled with NIMC, Nigerian Immigration Service, and Stanbic-IBTC Bank to effectively defend Ekweremadu in the UK.
Meanwhile, the former Senate President, David Mark among others, Thursday arrived at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, the UK to show solidarity with the embattled former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.
Others present are the former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Adamu Bulkachuwa.