Lincoln University in the United Kingdom has banned Ike Ekweremadu, a former Nigerian deputy senate president and senator for the Enugu West Senatorial District, from performing his responsibilities as a visiting professor until the outcome of the organ harvesting accusation leveled against him.
The institution issued the suspension following Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice’s June 23 arrest and subsequent arraignment at the Uxbridge Magistrate Court in London for allegedly plotting to harvest a minor’s kidney, according to a report by Daily Mail UK.
According to reports, David was trafficked using a false passport.
The accusation against Ekweremadu and his wife is that they allowed David to enter the UK so that he could give his kidney to their daughter, who is in need of a transplant due to kidney failure.
The British university had earlier appointed the former deputy president of the Nigerian senate president as a visiting professor of corporate and international linkages.
“Visiting professors are often, as is in this case, non-resident at the university, unpaid and advisory,” a Lincoln University spokesperson said.
“We are deeply concerned about the nature of these allegations, but as this is an active police investigation, we cannot comment further at this stage.
“Whilst this matter is subject to investigation, this person will not be undertaking any duties as visiting professor at Lincoln.”
David said that until he arrived at his hospital meeting with the Ekweremadus, he was unaware that he was in the UK to donate a kidney.
According to a specialist at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, London, David might not be aware that he is a kidney donor. The doctor also questioned the minor’s passport’s assertion that he was 21 years old.
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However, the senator and his wife, a doctor, denied trafficking David to the UK when they appeared in court on Thursday.
“The victim was 15. In Nigeria he was approached by both defendants. He was homeless on the streets of Lagos. They deceived him and promised him a better life in the UK. He was given a passport for a 41-year-old. The passport was illegally obtained by these defendants,” Damla Ayas, the prosecutor, told the court during the couple’s first hearing.
“He was provided with a medical travel visa saying the purpose of the travel was to provide medical treatment for the defendants’ daughter who was undergoing dialysis in relation to a number of health issues.
“It was premeditated; it was planned. Blood tests were obtained in Nigeria and he travelled to the UK in February this year.
“He was taken to several medical appointments, in particular, a medical appointment at the Royal Free Hospital, and was spoken to by a consultant about the organ harvesting for a kidney transplant.
“The consultant was concerned about his actual age and was concerned he was not aware he was the donor of the kidney. He only found out that the purpose of his visit was for an organ transplant when he visited the hospital.”
Attempting to board a flight for Turkey, the Ekweremadus were apprehended at Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom.
The Metropolitan Police and other protective agencies have taken David in for protection.
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