Alleged organ harvesting: Ekweremadu should have obtained clearance certificate before travelling to UK with kidney donor- Ex-NAPTIP DG

Former Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has stated that a former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice should have obtained a clearance certificate from the agency before travelling to the United Kingdom with a kidney donor.
Okah-Donli, who is also the Chairperson of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (UNVTF), also revealed that most cases of organ harvesting in the country “are often treated as ritual murder by law enforcement agencies that lack the institutional capacity to handle such cases.”
She clarified on Saturday during an interview on Arise News channel, while also lamenting the rate at which body organs of Nigerians “are stolen in India and most countries in the Middle East when they go for procedures.”
The London Metropolitan Police had arrested Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice at Heathrow Airport, over an allegation of bringing a minor to the UK for organ harvesting.
The police had claimed that the investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under the Modern Slavery Act, 2015 aimed at preventing hidden labour exploitation, payment for work-finding services and harvest of human organs, among others.
Consequent to this, Ekweremadu and his wife were arraigned before the Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court which denied them bail, ordered their detention and deferred the case till July 7 for a hearing.