A Nigerian politician accused of organ trafficking to the UK issued an “abide by the law” instruction to a doctor who offered to find a kidney donor for his sick daughter for a fee, the Old Bailey has heard.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, admitted paying Dr Obinna Obeta an initial fee of 1m naira (£1,800) in September 2021 to find a suitable kidney donor for his daughter Sonia, a postgraduate media student at Newcastle University, the court heard.
He said: “Dr Obeta would require 1m to start the search and screening, so I transferred the money.”
Asked by defence counsel Martin Hicks KC whether he understood the law concerning donating organs, Ekweremadu said: “For somebody to donate an organ he must never be coerced. He must have free will and no reward should be involved, except necessary medical expenses and loss of earnings.”
The court heard that Ekweremadu, who the court heard led Nigeria’s delegation at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, made contact with Obeta through his brother Diwe, who had been his classmate at medical school.
He said: “I told my brother to make it clear to Dr Obeta to ensure that we abide by the law and that we maintain the standards imposed by the law.”
Asked by Hicks what he understood by the term “stranger altruism”, Ekweremadu said it was “lawful for people to donate kidneys, but it must be out of their own compassion. It must be altruistic. There must be a desire to play the good Samaritan.”
He said the family was hopeful of finding a suitable donor in Nigeria. Ekweremadu told the jury: “Because of the nature of our society and the compassion level, we knew that it was possible to have such a donor.”
Asked to expand on what he meant, Ekweremadu said: “Nigeria is a very compassionate society, more than most African countries. I’m aware that communities contribute money to send people to school … You don’t have to have campaigns to give blood in Nigeria, because people come and give their own.”
Earlier, the court heard that none of Ekweremadu’s immediate family, including Sonia’s three siblings, who were privately educated in England, were able to act as donors because they did not share the same blood group as Sonia.
Ekweremadu said the family “drew a lot of comfort” from the experience of Obeta, who had received a successful kidney transplant at the Royal Free hospital in London in July 2021. Last week, Obeta admitted that he lied about being the cousin of his kidney donor and submitting false court documents to convince the hospital and the regulator, the Human Tissue Authority, to approve his transplant.
Ekweremadu said Obeta was “at the forefront of organising the transplant” for Sonia. She was also a private patient at the Royal Free, the court heard.
Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, 56, daughter Sonia, 25, and Obeta, 51, deny conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation.
They all deny the charge. The case, the first prosecution for alleged commercial organ donation under the Modern Slavery Act, continues.
