EKWEREMADU: “THEY WILL KILL ME IF I RETURN TO NIGERIA ” – ORGAN TRAFFICKING VICTIM TELLS UK COURT
The victim in the organ trafficking case involving former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, says he could be arrested or killed if he returned to Nigeria.
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS earlier reported that Senator Ekweremadu, his wife, and a doctor were jailed on Friday after being found guilty of plotting to harvest a man’s kidney.
The victim, who can not be named because of legal reasons, claimed he was lured to the United Kingdom under the pretence of job opportunities in the country.
The victim said this in his statement, which was read in court on Friday, Independence UK reports.
In the statement, the victim revealed his humble background in a Lagos village where he said he is the oldest of seven siblings living in a home without electricity or running water.
He said he was forced to become a street trader full-time moving around the city to provide for his family when his father fell ill with a heart problem. He sold mobile phone accessories in wheelbarrow, where he made at most £7 a day and as little as 50p, the report added.
He said he was approached with an opportunity to work in the UK, something he had “always dreamed of but never thought this would happen.”
However, he said he was shocked to discover the reason for the trip was to harvest his organs to give to Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia.
“He [Dr Obinna Obeta] did not tell me he brought me here for this reason. He did not tell me anything about this. I would not have agreed to any of this. My body is not for sale,” the victim said.
He added that he could not return to Nigeria because he worries for his safety. The victim claimed someone visited his father in Nigeria and asked him to get the victim, his son, to drop the case.
“I worry for my safety in Nigeria; those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria,” he added.
He told the police he did not want to claim compensation from the “bad people” as it would be “cursed and bad luck”, the report added.