Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, have pleaded not guilty to the charges of human trafficking and organ harvesting in the United Kingdom.
Senator Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice were arrested by the British police on June 23rd on allegations of human trafficking and organ harvesting that violate the country’s Modern Slavery Act.
The police authorities had accused the lawmaker of conspiring to bring a child to the United Kingdom for organ harvesting, saying the victim was a 15-year-old boy.
During the hearing, the court accepted that the kidney donor in Ekweremadu’s case was not a minor.
The prosecution have accepted that he is 21years old.
The court thereafter fixed August 4th as the date for the next hearing.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had 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.
Senator Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, had on June 27th urged Justice Inyang Ekwo to order the release of certain official documents of Ukpo domiciled with NIMC, Nigerian Immigration Service and Stanbic-IBTC Bank for the purpose of effectively defending Ekweremadu in the UK.
The prayers were granted by Justice Ekwo.
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