Reports have alleged that the doctor who was to carry out the kidney transplant on former Deputy Senate President IKe Ekweremadu’s daughter refused to go on with the procedure because the age of the 15-year-old donor was listed as 41 on his passport.
Ekweremadu and his wife are being accused of trafficking a 15-year-old boy from Nigeria to the UK with the intent of harvesting his kidney for their daughter who has been on dialysis for some time now and is in need of a kidney.
Shedding more light on the incident, Daily Mail, a British publication alleged that the doctor at the Royal Free in Camden became suspicious about whether the alleged victim was aware he was the donor of the kidney and whether he was 41 as his passport claimed.
The ’15-year-old’ boy was given the passport of a 41-year-old in order to get into the UK, but did not know he was there to donate a kidney until he went for a hospital appointment in London, a court heard yesterday.
After the victim arrived in the UK in February he had various appointments concerning kidney donation.
But a consultant at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London, became concerned about the boy’s real age and if he knew he was there to donate an organ, it is alleged.
Prosecutor Damla Ayas told Uxbridge Magistrates Court yesterday:
‘‘The victim was 15. In Nigeria, he was approached by both defendants. He was homeless on the streets of Lagos. They deceived him and promised him a better life in the UK. He was given a passport for a 41-year-old. The passport was illegally obtained by these defendants.
‘’He was provided with a medical travel visa saying the purpose of the travel was to provide medical treatment for the defendants’ daughter who was undergoing dialysis in relation to a number of health issues.
‘’It was premeditated, it was planned. Blood tests were obtained in Nigeria and he travelled to the UK in February this year.
‘’He was taken to several medical appointments in particular a medical appointment at the Royal Free Hospital and was spoken to by a consultant about the organ harvesting for a kidney transplant.
‘’The consultant was concerned about his actual age and was concerned he was not aware he was the donor of the kidney. He only found out that the purpose of his visit was for an organ transplant when he visited the hospital’’.
The teenage boy is now under the care of safeguarding authorities and the Metropolitan Police, officials say.
