The younger brother of David Ukpo Nwanmini, the alleged victim of organ harvesting and trafficking involving Senator Ike Ekwerrmadu and his wife in the United Kingdom, Jonathan Ukpo Nwanmini, on Saturday said his sibling is 25 years old as against 15 claimed by the British Metropolitan Police.
Jonathan, who claimed to be 22 years old, claimed that the organ harvesting victim, David, is his elder brother, said: ”David is my elder brother because we are both of the same father with different mothers and we hail from Ebonyi State. I will be 22 years old by next month and David is 25 years old. I am aware that he travelled because he told me. He did not disclose the country he was travelling to. He simply told me he was going to school abroad.
“After some months of not hearing from him, I got his number from his girlfriend and called him. I asked about his studies and work.
He said it was fine but that he was not working yet as he needed to go to school first before he could be given a working paper. I told him about our dad who was not feeling fine.
This was the conversation we had this month since January when he travelled. He was staying with us here in Ikotun before he left. We both sell phone accessories. We spoke last week. We even spoke again this week.”
Another businessman in Ikotun who pleaded anonymity also told Sunday Vanguard that: “David left Nigeria in January. He told us that someone promised to sponsor his education in the UK. He never mentioned the name of the person, but from what I have read online, it might be that the person was an intermediary between David and the former Deputy Speaker.”
Last Thursday, the Metropolitan Police announced that Ekweremadu and his wife were charged to court over the allegation of bringing a child with the name David to the UK for organ harvesting.
The police added that an investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.
Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for commercial gain and against the will of the victim. The former Deputy Senate President was said to have needed a kidney donor for his daughter, Sonia, who is down with renal failure.
Ekweremadu and his wife appeared at the Uxbridge Magistrates Court in West London last Thursday and were asked by the clerk for their address, they both replied: “Nigeria”.
While the court denied them bail, it ordered that they be remanded in Police custody till July 7.
Meanwhile, a former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has urged the public not to panic, blame or applaud Ekweremadu and his wife over their arrest and detention.
Ezeife, in a telephone conversation with newsmen yesterday, said Ekweremadu could have attempted to do so out of love for his family.
His words: “There is nothing wrong with our political office holders going for medical trips abroad. They should maintain our health institutions to benefit the masses.
“Government at all levels should encourage the use of herbal medicines in treating diseases.”
First published in Vanguard