SONIA EKWEREMADU, EKWEREMADU’S DAUGHTER, DENIES TRAFFICKING 21-YEAR-OLD UKPO TO THE UK TO HARVEST HIS KIDNEY.

Sonia Ekweremadu, the daughter of former Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has denied trafficking a homeless man, David Ukpo, into the United Kingdom to harvest his kidney.

Sonia Ekweremadu, 25, is charged alongside her father, Beatrice Ekweremadu, and Obinna Obeta, a Nigerian medical doctor.

At the Old Bailey on December 20, 2022, Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta denied conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person for the purpose of exploitation, while Sonia pleaded not guilty this Friday.

They allegedly conspired with others and another family member, Isaac Ekweremadu, who remains in Nigeria, to arrange the travel of a 21-year-old Ukpo with the intention of exploiting him between August 1, 2021 and May 5, 2022.

It was claimed that the group arranged for his travel from Lagos to London in order to remove one of his kidneys for Sonia, who suffers from a kidney disease.

Ike and Beatrice Ekweremadu were arrested after the young man, who had previously lived on the streets of Lagos, claimed at Staines Police Station that he was a victim of human trafficking.

Officers learned that the man arrived in the UK on February 20, 2022, and was taken to Royal Free Hospital for tests, none of which he agreed 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 claimed he fled the address and was homeless for three days before approaching the police.

The trial will begin on January 31 at the Old Bailey before High Court judge Mr Justice Adam Johnson.

Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were apprehended in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2022, after flying from Turkey to Heathrow.