Mr and Mrs Ekweremadu
A London court has granted the wife of a former Deputy Senate President, Mrs. Beatrice Ekweremadu, who alongside her husband are standing trial for allegedly plotting to traffic a Nigerian into the United Kingdom to harvest his kidney for their ailing daughter, bail.
Her husband, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was however denied bail.
55-year-old Beatrice Ekweremadu alongside her 60-year-old husband allegedly trafficked the 21-year-old Nigerian to London from Lagos in order to harvest his organ.
They were accused of plotting to traffic him to transplant his organs to their daughter who suffers from kidney failure.
According to UK Daily Mail, Ekweremadu, a lawyer and Senator representing Enugu West Senatorial District in the National Assembly and Beatrice, an accountant, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, for a bail hearing.
The wife was charged with arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation, between August 1 last year and May 5, under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
On the other hand, the senator was charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
READ ALSO: Ekweremadu: Kidney donor not minor — UK court
The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks, said: “The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions but I have refused bail to Ike.”
Prosecutors are not appealing the decision, the court heard.
Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said previously that the case involved ‘exploitation and the harvesting of an organ’.
The couple were arrested at Heathrow Airport on June 21 after arriving on a flight from Turkey.
He said: “The case began on May 5, 2022, when the complainant presented himself at Staines Police Station and claimed he had been transported to this country for the purpose of his kidney being removed.
“He arrived on 20th February 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were conducted. For the purpose he was there he did not consent to the taking of his kidney.
“He returned to the house he was staying and his treatment changed dramatically. He described being treated effectively as a slave.”
The couple are due to appear at the Old Bailey on August 4, 2022.
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