₦airaland Forum

Nigerian senator and wife 'plotted to traffic homeless 15-year-old boy to the UK and harvest his organs to give to their daughter who has kidney failure before being arrested at Heathrow with £20,000 in cash,' court hears

A Nigerian senator and his wife have today appeared in court accused of plotting to traffic a homeless child into the UK in order to harvest his organs.

Ike Ekweremadu, a People's Democratic Party politician for 19 years who was once Deputy President of the nation's senate, and Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu are accused of trying to traffic the 15-year-old to the UK from Lagos.

The court heard the couple, who have four children and a house in Willesden, North London, hoped to transplant the boy's organs to their daughter who suffers from kidney failure.


Police were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery laws last month and arrested the couple two days ago Heathrow Airport before they flew to Turkey, the court heard.

Ekweremadu, 60, is said to have had £20,000 on him on at the time of his arrest. The child is now under the care of safeguarding authorities and the Metropolitan Police, officials say.

Ekweremadu and wife Beatrice, 55, are charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

The senator was wearing a grey sweater while his wife was wearing a black and white knitted cardigan at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court today.

Prosecutor Damla Ayas said: ‘It is conspiracy in relation to human trafficking offences for the purposes of organ harvesting. The victim in this case is 15 years old

‘They the couple were interviewed at the police station. Both of the defendants have provided a prepared statement.

‘Mr Ekweremadu in his prepared statement denied allegations of human trafficking.

‘He said at no stage has he arranged transport for anyone with intention to exploit them.’

His wife similarly denied the allegations in her prepared statement, the court heard.

Gavin Irwin, representing Ekweremadu, said: ‘There is no question this is a serious allegation. Mr Ekweremadu is a member of the senate in Nigeria.

‘He has previously held an even more senior role as deputy president of the senate.

‘He is a member of the bar in Nigeria. He is a principal in a law firm that bears his name.

‘Those issues taken together go way beyond him being a person of good character…rather that he has led a blameless life as a public servant.’

Mr Irwin added that the allegations were ‘nothing short of preposterous’.

Antonia Gray, for Mrs Ekweremadu, said: ‘She has never been complicit or involved in any alleged illegal trafficking of any young person.

‘She is a financial accountant…with an unblemished record.’

The couple have an address they could stay at in Willesden, northwest London, the court heard.

The prosecutor made an application to adjourn matters for 14 days.

Ms Ayas said: ‘In respect of these offences Attorney General consent is required and the Crown require 14 days for that to be obtained.’

Magistrate Lois Sheard said: ‘These are serious allegations and these matters are now adjourned until 7 July back here at Uxbridge.’

Ms Sheard remanded both defendants into custody ahead of their hearing next month.

The Ekweremadus are charged with 'conspiring to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation....between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022 within the jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court'.

The investigation was launched by the Met's Specialist Crime team after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022.

The Met Police has confirmed that the boy is safe and being looked after. Mr Ekweremadu was held with Nwanneka Ekweremadu in Britain this month.

Mr Ekweremadu has been an elected senator at the Abuja-based parliament since 2003 after moving into politics after years as a lawyer.

His wife, five years his junior, is an academic and doctor and also a major public figure in Nigeria. They are believed to have four adult children.

The Metropolitan Police has said the child, who is under the age of 18, at the centre of the alleged plot is in care.

Organ harvesting involves removing parts of the body, often for cash and against the victim's will.

Ekweremadu has been in the UK for at least the past fortnight having met with members of the Nigerian community in Britain in Lincoln around ten days ago.

He tweeted: 'It was a pleasure and an honour to receive a letter of appointment by the University of Lincoln, UK, as Visiting Professor of Corporate and International Linkages. I also got a highly treasured gift - a copy of the Magna Carta. It was created in 1215, about 807 years ago'.

The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.

In 2017 a former Nigerian government minister claimed that migrants from his country were having their organs harvested after being sold into slavery.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a onetime aviation minister in Nigeria, claimed that 75 per cent of slaves who have their organs harvested in North Africa are from his country.

The Cambridge University-educated lawyer added that the victims have their 'bodies mutilated' and are 'roasted like suya [shish kebabs]'. He went on: 'Roasted alive! This is what Libyans do to sub-Saharan Africans who are looking for a transit point to Europe.

'They sell them into slavery and either murder, mutilate, torture or work them to death.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10946543/Nigerian-senate-wife-plotted-traffic-homeless-boy-15-UK-harvest-organs.html

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/06/23/14/59432699-10945807-image-a-2_1655989377301.jpg

Anything Peter Obi na to fact check?

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Undoubtedly, it has been a long drawn out war against Cannabis since its proscription. Regardless of the strict laws, global Cannabis trade has remarkably continue to thrive fueled essentially by both active supply and demand angles which have effectively guaranteed huge inflow of cash that has proved to be the underlining incentive.

Instructively, a strong stigmatization campaign incentivized its prohibition in America which birthed the Marihuana Act in the 1930’s. Before then, it was unregulated and widely used for recreational and medical purposes with mixed tale of efficacy.

However, Nigeria supported its war with laws like the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA), 1935 and Indian Hemp Act (IHA) 1966, which bans the planting, harvesting and consumption of Cannabis before the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement (NDLEA) Act of 1989. This is, in addition, to been a signatory to the single convention of narcotic drugs 1961 and UN convention on psychotropic substances of 1988.

Essentially, the pattern of the war has been within the framework of the extant laws which more often than not involves the seizure of the substance, setting alight of large swathe of farmlands and the seized consignments, and arrest/prosecution of barons and couriers. Notwithstanding the whole enchilada, it hasn’t deterred the large presence of ever-ingenious and bold players in the ecosystem.

Cannabis has a long medical history and a resurgence is only just being recorded with validated efficacy. It was reported that Cannabis has shown huge therapeutic value for about 1.2 billion people suffering various medical conditions- it use is effective in acute pain management, suppressing arthritis and other anxiety. Intriguingly, I happened on a documentary not long ago which proved revelatory on the impact of Cannabis in dealing with autism with users talking impressively on the outcome.

The delisting of cannabis from the group of dangerous drugs which included heroin and synthetic opioids by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) had the narrative on Cannabis changed considerably with many countries racing towards instituting laws in accommodating the ‘green gold’ and Africa is intriguingly not left out in the rush. Lesotho is the first African country to do so for medical and scientific purposes with the requisite license coming at a steep cost.

The legalization of the psychotropic substance has made a transition from the question of morality to commerce/business. Though, the staggering statistics of victims of the use of Cannabis as well as the impact on society notably youth and its place as a part of the paraphernalia of crimes and conduit into the addiction to other hard drugs makes the war a serious undertaking. And, that forms the argument against legalization, which can hardly be faulted -the base of junkies is bound to ramp up.

However, the revelation on Cannabis and the global hurry to get a slice of the opportunity it presents is huge enough to recalibrate our thinking and impression. Prohibition Partners- a research consulting firm in a 2019 report, estimated that Africa’s Cannabis business could earn as much as 7.1 billion dollars annually by 2023.

No doubt, this is an assurance that a vista of opportunities will proceed from a regulated Cannabis industry- job and wealth creation, economic diversification, improved foreign exchange earnings. Like cannabis, the proscription of alcohol in America had social and health issues as the driving force. Also, singularly important was the need for more tax revenue especially during the great depression which legalising alcohol sales was seen as a veritable source. In fact, Franklin Roosevelt promised to lift the alcohol ban which he fulfilled.

The approach in leveraging the opportunity should be tailored toward medical purposes, which will encourage the establishing of industries in the processing and exports of Cannabis-based products or raw material underpinned by a strict regulatory and legal framework. So, the country has no shortage of entrepreneurs incline in taking the plunge. Huge revenue would be racked up from the issuance of licenses and taxes from the industry.

This will in no way obviate the place of the NDLEA instead it will be streamlined to reflect the new reality and further strengthen its arms in playing supervisory, monitoring and regulatory role better on the industry. Again, the entire argument for cannabis remains primarily for its medical and scientific uses.

As earlier adverted, many Africa countries have jumped on the bandwagon with many also tying up loose ends preparatory to taking a shot at the business angle while Nigeria remains non-committal despite the loud calls for change of attitude toward Cannabis.

It is still a budding industry which may have informed the indifference by authorities. At any rate, lively debates need to be sustained for rich knowledge on the subject in actuating a rethink. With abundant land, experienced farmers and decent growing conditions Nigeria can be on its way to becoming a major player with rich economic harvest.

https://www.blueprint.ng/nigeria-leveraging-on-cannabis-for-export/

Mining giant Glencore has pleaded guilty to bribery in a London court and will pay $1.5bn to resolve similar claims with the US and Brazil.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office said it had exposed "profit-driven bribery and corruption" across the firm's oil operations in five African countries.

Glencore will find out how much it owes in fines to the UK in June but it is expected to pay around $500m (£400m).

It also agreed to pay penalties of more than $1bn in the US and $39m in Brazil.

Glencore's chairman said "unacceptable practices" had taken place in relation to the seven counts of bribery it pleaded guilty to at Westminster Magistrates' Court,

The company's agents and employees paid bribes worth over $25m for preferential access to oil, with approval by the company between 2011 and 2016, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said.

The bribes were paid in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and South Sudan.


'Major prosecution'
SFO director Lisa Osofsky said: "We won't stop fighting serious fraud, bribery and corruption, and we look forward to the next steps in this major prosecution."

In 2018, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched an investigation into Glencore's compliance with American money-laundering and corruption laws dating back as far as 2007. It concerned the mining giant's operations in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.

The UK's SFO followed suit in 2019, investigating one of Glencore's UK subsidiaries over "suspicions of bribery" in Africa.

On Tuesday, the mining and commodities trading giant confirmed it had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to the group's past actions in certain overseas jurisdictions.

It also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation related to past market conduct in certain US fuel oil markets.

As part of the plea deal with the DoJ, Glencore said an independent compliance monitor will be appointed for three years to check its "internal controls".

It has also settled Brazilian bribery charges against it, but said Dutch and Swiss investigations remained ongoing.

'Unacceptable practices'
Chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi said: "Glencore today is not the company it was when the unacceptable practices behind this misconduct occurred.

"The board and the management team are committed to operating a company that creates value for all stakeholders by operating transparently under a well-defined set of values, with openness and integrity at the forefront."

Spotlight on Corruption, a pressure group, welcomed the charges but said it was essential that those responsible for the wrongdoing, including senior executives and the parent company, were held to account.

"It's also critical that the $1.5 billion that Glencore has set aside to settle the investigations includes compensation for the victims of their alleged corruption in West Africa," it said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61567403

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