Nigeria's former deputy Senate president will go on trial in Britain in January for alleged organ harvesting.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, has been accused — along with his wife, Beatrice, 56, their daughter, Sonia, 25, and a doctor — of bringing a 21-year-old man from Nigeria to have his kidney removed.
The young man is said to have raised the alarm after refusing to consent to the procedure, following preliminary tests at a north London hospital.
Prosecutors claim the kidney was intended to be used for Sonia Ekweremadu.
Charges were brought after the man walked into a police station and the Ekweremadus were arrested at London's Heathrow airport in June.
Mr Ekweremadu is a senator for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for Enugu state in south-east Nigeria.
The Ekweremadus and the doctor, Obina Obeta, 50, are accused of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
That conspiracy is alleged to have taken place between August 1 last year and May 5 this year.
No pleas were entered when the four appeared at London's Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey, on Monday, local time.
Judge Mark Lucraft set another hearing date for December 16 and brought forward the defendants' trial from May to January 31.
Mr Ekweremadu and Mr Obeta were remanded in custody.
Beatrice and Sonia Ekweremadu were released on conditional bail.
AFP/ABC
