Senator Ekweremadu and wife, Beatrice
Daughter, Sonia, in Hospital as Ekweremadus stand trial
Daughter of former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, lay critical in hospital in the United Kingdom as London prosecutors struggle to send her parents to jail.
The Senator who is detained in London and his wife who is on conditional bail were arraigned in court on Tuesday after prosecutors sought to accelerate the hearing of allegations that the couple sought illegal means to secure their daughter a kidney donor.
Their daughter, Sonia, is still in critical need of kidney transplant and is said to be in critical medical care due to her lingering condition after Senator Ekweremadu’s efforts to get her a donor from Nigeria ended in a criminal proceeding in the London court.
Ekweremadus were arrested in June last year at London’s Heathrow airport after flying into the UK after the assumed kidney donor is said to have raised the alarm after refusing to consent to the procedure, following preliminary tests at a north London hospital. And charges were pressed against Ekweremadu and wife after the man went to the police.
Another man, Obinna Obeta, a 50-year-old doctor from south London, was arrested at a later date.
Ekweremadu, his wife and the doctor are accused of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, under UK legislation on modern slavery. He had his bail plea rejected over concerns he might flee Britain. Obeta was also detained, but Beatrice and Sonia Ekweremadu are on conditional bail.
The trial has been brought forward from a planned date in May, but Sonia was still down with her life threatening illness and remains in dire need of kidney donor while her parents who were struggling to help here are now struggling to remain out of jail.
Sonia’s defence team is reported to have submitted a psychological report indicating she is not fit to stand trial.
The Oracle Today quotes doctors as assuring that a healthy donor could still live a normal life after giving out one of normal two kidneys; and the recipient can also regain her health with just one kidney.
However, organ donation must be made by a willing person who has met the legal requirements to do so.
