Ekweremadu's daughter Sonia charged alongside he parents for trafficking a homeless man

FORMER deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekwremadu's ongoing court case in the UK just got a bit more complicated after his daughter Sonia appeared in a London court facing the charge of  trafficking a homeless man with plans to harvest his organs for herself.

In June, Senator Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were arrested by London's Metropolitan Police on suspicion of child trafficking and planned organ harvesting. They were charged before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

Both of them were denied bail at the time and were remanded in custody until the case were heard again on July 26 at the Westminster Magistrates Court, when Beatrice was released but her husband was denied bail. In the first such case of its kind involving Nigerians, the Ekweremadus were accused of conspiring to traffic a homeless man into the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter.

Now, their daughter Sonia, for who they were seeking a kidney, has appeared in court, although she is yet to enter a plea but a trial date has been set for January 31, 2023. Sonia is accused alongside her father Senator Ekweremadu, 60, her mother Beatrice Ekweremadu, 56, and 50-year-old doctor Obinna Obeta of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Prosecutors claim that Sonia and the other accused facilitated the man’s travel from Lagos to London to remove one of his kidneys for her benefit. Sonia has a kidney-related disease and has been on dialysis for some time, the court has been told.

Earlier this year, the Ekweremadu's were arrested after the young man, who previously lived on the streets of Lagos, turned up at Staines police station, claiming he was the victim of trafficking. He told officers he had arrived in the UK on February 20 this year and had been taken to Royal Free Hospital for tests, none of which he consented to.

He added that after these tests, he had returned to the house he had been staying in, where he was treated effectively as a slave. According to the young man, he escaped from the address and was homeless for three days before going to the police.

Senator Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice, were arrested in the UK on June 21 after flying into Heathrow Airport from Turkey. He and Dr  Obeta are currently on remand in the HMP Wandsworth and the HMP Belmarsh respectively, while Beatrice who was granted bail, appeared in court today wearing a black head-wrap and long black coat.

All the defendants were due to enter their pleas but this could not take place today because of further legal arguments. Now, the trial has been brought forward to 31 January next year at the Old Bailey.