Daughter of Nigerian Senator, Ike Ekweremadu, has denied trafficking a homeless man into the United Kingdom to harvest his kidney.
Sonia Ekweremadu, 25, is charged alongside her father Ekweremadu, 60, her mother, Beatrice, 56, and Doctor Obinna Obeta, 50.
On December 20, Ike, Beatrice and Obeta denied conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation at the Old Bailey while Sonia pleaded not guilty on Friday, January 13, according to Daily Mail.
The accusation is that they conspired together, with another family member Isaac Ekweremadu who remains in Nigeria and others, to arrange the travel of a 21-year-old man from Lagos to London, with a view to exploiting him between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022, by removing one of his kidneys for Sonia, who has a kidney-related disease.
Three of them, Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu were arrested after the young man, who previously lived on the streets of Lagos, claimed he was the victim of trafficking at Staines police station.
The man told officers he arrived in the UK on February 20, 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital for tests, none of which he consented to.
After the tests, the man said he returned to the house he was staying in, where he was ‘treated effectively as a slave.’
He said he escaped the address and was homeless for three days before going to the police.
According to Daily Mail, the trial will begin at the Old Bailey on January 31 before High Court Justice Adam Johnson.
Ike and Obeta are in custody in HMP Wandsworth and HMP Belmarsh respectively, while Beatrice and Sonia are both on bail.
Ike, a lawyer and former deputy president of Nigerian Senate, and his wife Beatrice were arrested in the UK on June 21, 2022 after flying to Heathrow from Turkey.
Ike has been elected to five consecutive terms in the Nigerian Senate since 2003 and has been deputy president of the Senate on three occasions, which he said was equivalent to being Leader of the House of Commons.
He said he had been one of the most senior lawmakers for many years, and a well-known philanthropist.