21-year-old David Ukpo, allegedly trafficked to London to donate a kidney to the ailing daughter of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has refuted claims of being aware of the kidney transplant.
It has been reported that the victim disclosed this on Tuesday at the UK court as the alleged organ trial continues hearing.
Recall that Ekweremmadu and his wife were in June 2022 arrested at Heathrow Airport in London after Staines Police Station received a report from a young man claiming to have been trafficked into the UK for organ harvesting.
The United Kingdom Court, Old Bailey, said the proposed donor, who could not be named for legal reasons, ran away after doctors at the Royal Free Hospital decided he was not a suitable candidate.
The young boy, who made the report shortly after arriving in the UK from Nigeria, alleged that he was made to undergo some medical tests, none of which he consented to.
According to BBC, in body-worn footage shown in court, the trafficked victim appeared to be crying and distressed when he walked into the police station.
The victim told the receptionist he had been brought into the country by a man he met in Lagos to remove his kidneys.
He said: “I don’t know anywhere, I don’t know where I am. I have been sleeping three days outside around, looking for someone to help me, save my life.
He carried me to the hospital to remove my kidneys. The doctor said I was too young but the man said if ‘you do not do it here he would carry me back to Nigeria and do it there.”
The jurors stated that David had thought he was being brought to the UK to work and only found out it was for him to donate a kidney when he visited the Royal Free Hospital.
The Juros said: “he was shocked, felt like crying, and that nobody told him about the kidney transplant.
He claimed he was told he had to go ahead with the operation in exchange for N1.2m (about £2,000).
When he ran away, the court heard him saying this was his first time setting his feet in London, not knowing where he was.”
