The young man at the centre of the organ harvesting saga of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu said he could not return to Nigeria because he is worried for his safety.
In his impact statement, which was read in court on Friday, the man, whose identity could not be revealed for legal reasons, said he was worried for his safety, adding that someone visited his father in Nigeria and asked him to get his son to drop the case.
“I worry for my safety in Nigeria; those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria”, he alleged.
He told the police that he did not want to claim compensation from the “bad people” as it would be “cursed and bad luck,” the report added.
He also said that his organ is “not for sale”.
A United Kingdom court on Friday sentenced Ekweremadu to a total of nine years and eight months imprisonment. His wife, Beatrice, was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment for plotting to harvest the young man’s kidney.
The third accomplice, a medical doctor, Dr Obinna Obeta, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The three accused persons were found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiring to arrange the travel of the victim, a young man, with a view to exploiting him for his body part.
The young man said that he was lured to the UK under the pretense of job opportunity in the country.
He recalled his humble background in a Lagos suburb where he said he is the oldest of seven siblings living in a home without electricity or running water.
He said he was forced to become a street trader full time moving to the city to provide for his family when his father fell ill with a heart problem. According to him, he sold mobile phone accessories from a wheelbarrow making at most £7 (N4,081 at official rate) a day and as little as 50p (N292).
He said he was approached with an opportunity to work in the UK, something he had “always dreamed of but never thought would happen”.
However, he said he was shocked to discover the reason for the trip was to harvest his organs to give to Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia.
“He (Dr Obinna Obeta) did not tell me he brought me here for this reason, he did not tell me anything about this. I would have not agreed to any of this, my body is not for sale”, the victim said.
