Alleged Organ Trafficking: UK Court Grants Ekweremadu Wife Stringent Bail, Orders Husband To Remain In Prison

A United Kingdom court has granted former Nigerian Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s wife, Beatrice, bail under stringent conditions.

Beatrice Ekweremadu was granted bail by the London court on Monday, over a month after she was held by the UK police on charges of human trafficking and organ harvesting.

Ekweremadu was arrested alongside her husband on June 23 by the police, claiming they tried to traffic a minor to illegally harvest his organ.

The claim that the alleged victim was subsequently debunked after passports, national ID and other documents showed the person as 21.

Still, the Ekweremadus remained behind bars since then and were not granted bail after appearing in court on July 7.

The matter was postponed until August for further hearing before Monday’s decision to free Beatrice Ekweremadu while the senator would remain in custody.

“The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions but I have refused bail to Ike,” the Common Serjeant of London, Richard Marks, said in his ruling on Monday evening.

Ekweremadu, 60, a serving senator from Enugu, was Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President from 2015 to 2019. He unsuccessfully ran to be governor of his state during the Peoples Democratic Party’s primaries in May.

The court did not immediately say the stringent terms set for Beatrice Ekweremadu or when the senator would be released before adjourning the matter till August 4.