A Nigerian politician at the centre of an alleged organ-harvesting plot said he feared his family was being scammed by a man from Lagos offering to donate a kidney, the Old Bailey has heard.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife, Beatrice, 56, daughter Sonia, 25, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, are accused of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the man to exploit him for his kidney. They deny the charge.
The 21-year-old street trader, who cannot be named, was allegedly offered up to £7,000 and the promise of a better life in the UK in exchange for giving a kidney to Sonia.
Her father admitted to sponsoring a medical visa for the man to travel to London for the donation. He told the court the family was advised to lie to London’s Royal Free hospital that the man was Sonia’s cousin.
After the hospital refused to conduct the transplant on medical grounds, the potential donor did not return to Nigeria on a flight paid for by Ekweremadu, the court head.
He told the court: “That confirmed my fear that this was a scam and [the potential donor] was not coming back [to Nigeria]”
Ekweremadu said he had earlier doubts about the donor. He said: “I was beginning to get suspicious because [he] comes from Lagos. Lagos is a place where you get wise to survive. Lagos is a land of opportunity for Nigerians.”
Ekweremadu said his daughter was advised to claim there was a family relationship with the potential donor by Christopher Agbo, an NHS consultant nephrologist.
Recounting a conversation with his daughter, Ekweremadu said: “Dr Agbo had explained to her that it was not enough to pass the compatibility tests, they would believe that they were more compatible if there was a family relationship.”
He told the court this lie upset his daughter. He said: “She was very distressed because that is not who she is. That is not who we are. I said I can’t help that. They are all trying to save your life.”
Earlier in the process, Ekweremadu told the court, he had advised his daughter not to sign a forged Nigerian court affidavit claiming she was related to the potential donor.
He said: “I told my daughter to ignore the document, and I told her not to sign it. It was bad enough to convey the impression that she is related to David. And it would be more complicated to sign the affidavit.”
He added: “Of course it is a forgery.”
Asked by defence counsel Martin Hicks KC, whether he had ever paid or agreed to reward the donor, Ekweremadu said: “I’ve never agreed or discussed any reward. You should not take money or any kind of reward in respect of kidney donation and there should be no coercion whatsoever.
“I never had the impression that he was induced. My understanding is that he came of his own free will to donate a kidney.”
He also denied paying £1,500 that the court has heard was demanded by a medical secretary at the Royal Free to act as an Igbo interpreter between the donor and the hospital’s doctors.
He said: “I never gave the instruction to pay her. I never paid her.”
The trial continues.
