A combination of street smart and willing police has helped plunged Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President into bad light in the UK as the drama that followed the botched organ donation unfolded in the media last week.
The Enugu West Senator Ike Ekweremadu said David Ukpo, the 21year-old organ donor, decided to offer one of his kidneys to his daughter Sonia in the UK.
The senator then took all the needed steps, including informing the UK authorities about the plan, the age, and other details of the donation, according to court documents.
Ekweremadu said he facilitated Ukpo’s trip to London for the organ transplant.
But things didn’t go as planned thanks to incompatibility, and Ukpo, rather than return home, just turned the table.
Addressing the Abuja Federal High Court, Ekweremadu lawyer Adegboyega Awomolo said Ukpo confirmed to Ekweremadu that he was 21 years old.
“The applicants have a daughter named Sonia Ekweremadu, who is suffering from kidney failure and the applicants have been managing it for about five years,” the lawyer told the court on Friday.
“The said daughter of the applicants urgently needed a kidney transplant to save her life.
“David Nwamini Ukpo, offered to donate one of his kidneys to the daughter of the applicants if his kidney is compatible with that of Miss Sonia Ekweremadu.
“Ukpo informed the applicants that he is twenty-one years of age, having been born in the year 2000.
“The 1st applicant supported the visa application of Ukpo to the UK with a letter to the British High Commission in Nigeria, explaining the purpose of the visit – to enable him to undergo a medical examination in the UK so that the donor and Sonia Ekweremadu get the best of medical attention.
“After conducting various medical tests, the Royal Free Hospital in London decided that the said Ukpo was not a suitable donor because his kidney is not compatible with that of Sonia Ekweremadu.”
Awomolo said Ukpo was asked to return to Nigeria after the test, but he approached the UK authorities and sought to be prevented from returning to Nigeria.
“Ukpo told the UK police that he is fifteen years of age contrary to the information supplied to the applicants by the same Ukpo.
“The applicants verily believe that Ukpo was actually 21 or more having regards to the public records in the custody of the respondents.
“The said Ukpo is presently in care in the custody of British Authorities and he cannot be accessed by the applicants,” he said.
Itching to nail down a big personality from a country like Nigeria, the London police have refused to reckon with all the details the UK authorities earlier received on the donation. They insisted Ukpo was a 15-year-old picked from the gutter in Lagos to illegally donate his kidney in London.
Ekweremadu and his wife have been detained in London, and the next hearing comes up July 7.