British police have arrested a Nigerian couple, one of whom is a former Senate politician, on suspicion of plotting to bring a child from Nigeria to the UK for organ harvesting.
Metropolitan police said that Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu and Ike Ekweremadu, who are 55 and 60 years old respectively, were arrested and will appear in a UK court today .
The police didn’t disclose the age or gender of the child and the location of the arrest. Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim’s will.
In 2017, a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs taken after being sold into slavery.
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In a statement released, the metropolitan police said the couple was charged to court on Thursday, June 23 following an investigation by the police’ specialist crime team. The police mentioned that the investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offenses under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
“Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court later today.
A child has been safeguarded and we are working closely with partners on continued support. As criminal proceedings are now under way we will not be providing further details.”the statement read