The daughter of a Nigerian politician has denied being involved in an alleged organ-harvesting plot.
Sonia Ekweremadu, from Willesden Green, is said to have been the intended recipient of a kidney transplant in an alleged international conspiracy involving her parents and another man.
At the Old Bailey on Friday (January 13), the 25-year-old pleaded not guilty to conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation between August 1, 2021, and May 5 2022.
The alleged plan involved bringing a man from Nigeria to the UK to have his kidney removed.
Ekweremadu’s parents – Ike and Beatrice – were arrested at Heathrow Airport last June 2021 after arriving on a flight from Turkey.
They were charged in connection with the case alongside another man Obinna Obeta, 51, from Southwark.
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Mr Ekweremadu, a district senator and lawyer, was not present for the pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey.
Obeta was also not present.
Sonia Ekweremadu entered her not guilty plea in the dock beside her mother.
The defendants are due to face a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey from January 31.
The female defendants are on bail and the male defendants are in custody.
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