Organ Trafficking: Journalist Recounts Ekweremadu’s Ordeal During Court Hearing

A Nigerian journalist, Fred Chukwuelobe, on Tuesday recounted the court hearing involving former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged organ trafficking, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London.

Chukwuelobe, who was joined by the former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, at the court narrated his account via his Facebook page.

The account partly read, “The session lasted until 12:12 pm when the judge granted a 10-minute break and the jury was ushered out. They returned to their sequestration.

“Now, I don’t want to go into full details of the evidence-in-chief, but what caught my attention most was when Senator Ekweremadu was asked to respond to allegations that the organ donor was induced and that he was naive. The senator told the court that ‘no 21-year-old living in Lagos can be induced’.

“Asked why he thought so, he added, ‘because they are usually street-wise’. He also maintained throughout that he did everything legally, but that he discovered at a point that he was being scammed.

“Asked why he continued when he found that out, he said the urge to save his daughter’s life was his preoccupation, but that even at that, he was not ready to do anything illegally.

“The evidence continued with Senator Ekweremadu making his case as detailed, calm, and as calculated as he could.

“Sporting a multi-coloured sweater on top of a jeans trousers, the senator gave a good account of himself as far as we lay people could tell. His voice was firm, his accounts consistent.”