Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has confirmed the age of the Ekweremadus kidney donor, David Nwamini Ukpo, as 21; contradicting the claims of prosecutors in London.
Gatekeepers News reports that Isah Idris, the comptroller general of the NIS, in a Zoom briefing with journalists, said Ukpo applied for his international passport which was issued after thorough checks by the passport issuing agency.
Idris explained that the documents provided by Ukpo from the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) gave his date of birth as October 12, 2000.
According to him, Ukpo was captured for the international passport on November 2, 2021, at the Gwagwalada office of the agency.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the London Metropolitan Police charged Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice for allegedly trafficking Ukpo to harvest his kidney.
On the same day, the Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in London denied the couple bail.
The UK prosecutors have charged the Ekweremadu for allegedly bringing a 15-year-old boy (Ukpo) from Nigeria to the UK with the claim that he was to be given a better life in the UK but was actually to harvest his organ.
The prosecutors further alleged that Ekweremadu procured a passport for the boy and claimed he was 21 years old but they discovered that he was 15 years old.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that pictures of Ukpo’s international passport indicated his age as 21, contrary to what the prosecutors in London presented in court.
The Ekweremadus are believed to have facilitated Ukpo’s trip after he agreed to donate a kidney to their sick daughter.
Upon arriving in the UK, the young man was believed to have told the police there that he is underage and not 21 years old as stated in his passport.
The Nigeria Immigration boss noted that neither the Met Police who charged the senator to court nor the senator himself has contacted the NIS since the case went public.
Meanwhile, some lawyers have argued that it is illegal for anyone to be procured to donate an organ in the UK, even if the person is an adult.
The trial of the Ekweremadus continues on July 7 in the UK.
