A Nigerian politician and his wife have been charged with plotting to traffic a homeless 15-year-old boy to Britain to harvest his organs.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, an opposition senator and former deputy senate president, and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, appeared at Uxbridge magistrates court in west London on Thursday.

The couple were arrested on Tuesday at Heathrow airport before they flew to Turkey, the court heard. Both deny the allegations.

Police said the boy, who the court was told was homeless, had been safeguarded.

Ekweremadu is an opposition senator in the southern Nigerian state of Enugu. He is also a principal at a law firm and has been influential in Nigerian politics for several decades.

The couple have been charged with conspiracy to arrange and/or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

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The investigation was launched by the Metropolitan police’s specialist crime team after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May. The charges relate to alleged activity between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022.

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The politician was recently made a visiting professor at the University of Lincoln. {snip}

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Debbie Ariyo, the chief executive of the London-based charity Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (Afruca), said: “Organ harvesting is a massive problem in Nigeria itself. This is the first prosecution in the UK that I’m aware of.”

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