Nigerian kidney theft: Third charge over organ-harvesting plot

A man has been charged over an alleged plot with a Nigerian politician to harvest a man’s kidney.

Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, south London, is accused under the Modern Slavery Act of arranging a man’s travel with a view to him being exploited.

Mr Obeta is suspected of conspiring with district senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife in bringing a 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK.

It is alleged they planned to take his kidney and give it to their daughter.

Mr Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice were arrested at Heathrow Airport on 21 June after arriving on a flight from Turkey.

They allegedly treated the 21-year-old Nigerian man as a slave before he escaped and went to Staines police station in Surrey.

He is said to have refused to consent to the kidney procedure after undergoing tests at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north-west London.

The couple deny wrongdoing or that there was a criminal conspiracy, and claim no exploitation occurred.

All three defendants, who are in custody, are due to appear at the Old Bailey on 4 August