Like most of us I have been following the travails of the Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his Wife Beatrice. As we are all aware, the Senator and his wife were arrested in the United Kingdom on their way to Turkey. The charge against both the Senator and his wife is conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person for exploitation under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015.
As the story goes, Sonia Ekweremadu the couple’s 21-year-old daughter was diagnosed of renal failure about five years ago and she is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. Her parents are said to have had an agreement with one David Ukpo to donate one of his kidneys to their ailing child. Further to the plans, the Ekweremadu’s successfully procured a passport for Ukpo and applied for a medical visa to the United Kingdom. They successfully travelled with him to the UK and then the story gets a bit hazy. On one hand, it is alleged that after the necessary tests were done, Ukpo was found not to be a good match with Sonia and the purpose of his visit being unsuccessful, he was to return back to Nigeria and that it was on that basis that he decided to feign ignorance of the real reasons for his being in the UK and claim that he was a minor in the hope of being granted asylum.
On the other hand, it is said that at the point of surgery, the operating surgeon having discovered that Ukpo was a minor, stopped the surgery and informed the authorities thus leading to the arrest of the Ekweremadus on the allegation of organ harvesting.
Then came the stories, Ukpo was said to have not been aware of any kidney donation but rather, he claimed to have been lured by the promise of a job in the UK. He was not a minor but an adult of 21 years, the Ekweremadus were into organ selling and were on their way to Turkey with £20,000.00 to look for another desperate donor.
The story has many angles to it and brings to fore the several lapses in our community namely:
- The unreliableness of documents emanating from Nigeria. It is on record that whilst the UK authorities have continued to insist that David is 15 years old, the Nigerian Immigration Authority insists also that his birth certificate and National Identity Number, which were presented during his registration for his passport showed that he was 21 years old. However, it is well known that with the right amount of money one can get any document in Nigeria.
- The state of our hospitals. It is common knowledge that our health sector is comatose and there are no hopes of it being revived anytime soon. It stands to reason that had our hospitals been able to provide adequate medical care, the Ekweremadus may have had no need to seek recourse in the UK.
- The high level of poverty in the country, which has made so many people do things they would not ordinarily do, including selling body parts in a bid to provide for themselves or their loved ones.
- The despair and hopelessness fuelling the flight by the youth and the not so young to the developed world by any means whatsoever.
- The audacity of the rich in thinking that all problems can be solved with money and who would rather use an impoverished citizen whose life can be expended on the altar of their own needs rather than their blood and kin.
I have read with interest the various angles to the controversy, the fact that the purpose of the trip was made or not made known to Ukpo, the skepticism that greeted the news that Ukpo was not a match for Sonia, his age and finally the involvement of the Federal Government of Nigeria in helping the beleaguered Senator.
Most of us have been very emotional about the story and rightly so, Sonia and Ukpo could be anyone’s child, we could be in Ike and Beatrice shoes and although our emotions are stirred the truth is that the Ekweremadus are in big trouble. Ukpo’s age if found to be an adult will not save them neither will the fact that they were upfront about Ukpo’s purpose for the visit do much for them in the eyes of the law.
The main and only issue to be determined is whether the Ekweremadus are guilty of soliciting, procuring and facilitating an organ donation from someone who is alive. And from the laws that they are being charged under it will be very difficult to secure an acquittal because they have acknowledged the fact that Ukpo was in the UK for medical purposes except if he confirms he was not financially induced or emotionally coerced into offering to donate his kidney. The law makes it an offense “to remove an organ from a living donor or transplant an organ from a living donor into another person unless the recipient and donor are genetically related”. The exceptions to this law makes it vital that
- No payment has been made or will be made to the donor and or that
- The donors consent was not obtained by coercion or the offer of a inducement.
The law is explicit and as we all know it doesn’t favour any person nor is ignorance of the law an excuse. As far as I am concerned, there are only two victims in the saga, and NO, it’s not the Ekweremadus at least not Senator Ike and his wife Beatrice. The victims here are Sonia who is suffering from ill health and who had to go all the way to the UK for a chance at life and who in her state has to contend with her parents suffering and being faced with imprisonment because they tried to help her.
Ukpo a young man who because of poverty opted to sell his kidneys for a chance to leave the country and for money.
Did I say two victims? I meant three. Nigerians, yes we are the third victims as this will yet be another reason why we are treated with suspicion by other countries and why our documents are not seen as being credible and also because our government is planning to use tax money to visit the Senator to commiserate with him on his plight and also arrange for legal aid for him.
As a parent, I feel for the Ekweremadus for no one will see their child in a state of helplessness and not do all they can as the Yoruba say “May the fire of a child never burn us.” As a Nigerian, I cannot help but wonder why the political class to which the senator belongs hasn’t come to the understanding that the rot and collapse of our infrastructure will affect each and everyone of us and that sometimes the ill gotten money they have will not be able to save them. I also cannot but feel for Ukpo whatever age he actually is, as it takes some desperation to agree to donate an organ and also if the stories we are hearing are true to not only turn against the Ekweremadus but use their misfortune to advance his way in life but then is that not what the average Nigerian will do?
There are lessons to be learnt from the saga and it is my prayer that we all learn those lessons otherwise they will continue to replay before us all.
Welcome to the 2nd half of what is a most interesting year.