Headline

Ekweremadu: Victim Of Organ Harvesting Plot Says He’s in UK To Work

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2023

Editor

A Nigerian street trader at the centre of an alleged organ-harvesting plot involving former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has told judges he thought he was going to Britain to work.

The young man was allegedly brought to the UK to donate a kidney to the sick daughter of the former Deputy Senate President in exchange for a cash reward.

According to the Irish News, the young man, giving evidence at the Old Bailey on Monday, revealed he did not even know why he was being taken to see a doctor.

He disclosed he was being “controlled” and told to lie about having a family connection with the Ekweremadus before a consultation at the Royal Free Hospital.

In the end, a doctor at the north London hospital concluded he was unsuitable as a donor for 25-year-old Sonia Ekweremadu, the Old Bailey has heard.

Ekweremadu, 60; his wife Beatrice, 56; Sonia, 25, and medical “middleman” Obinna Obeta, 50, are charged with conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation.

The young man, aged 21 as of the time of the incident, said he thought he was coming to Britain to work.

He also told the court how he was born and bred in a village in Nigeria, the oldest of nine children to his carpenter father and mother.

He went to a village school until the age of 15 when he left because his parents needed money, the court heard.

His uncle took him to live with him in Lagos and gave him work selling phone accessories, he said.

After four years, he started his own business selling phone accessories from a wheelbarrow in the market earning N3,000 or N4,000 a day.

Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC asked how he came to fly to London from Lagos.

The witness, who gave evidence by video link with the assistance of an interpreter, said, “Obinna (Obeta) is the man who brought me here to this country.

“He asked me what am I doing and I told him I’m doing business selling phone accessory in Lagos and he start talking about coming to London.

“He going to take me to London, stay at his house, and I will work.”

The court heard how he travelled to the Nigerian capital Abuja for tests and was taken to have passport pictures taken.

He told judges that the first time he saw his passport was when he went for a visa interview and he did not see it again until the day he travelled to the UK.

Mr Davies asked, “What did you think you were going to do when you came to London?”

He replied, “To work, any type of work that I would get paid.”

He said he thought Dr Obeta was helping him because he was “from God.”

After travelling to the UK, the man was pictured sharing a meal with Sonia Ekweremadu and smiling into the camera.

He disclosed that during the course of the me, those present “only discuss for themselves” and did not ask him any questions

Later that week, the victim disclosed that he was taken by Dr Obeta for his consultation at the Royal Free Hospital.

He told judges he thought it was for a test before he could start work.

Before going inside, they allegedly met Sonia Ekweremadu, a tall Nigerian man who had escorted him on the plane and another woman.

He told judges, “They used to discuss by themselves. Obinna would just tell me where to stay. Like they were controlling me.

“They said I am going to see the doctor. The doctor is going to ask me question and they will give me the answer.”

He was allegedly told to lie that he had been to a “higher institution” school and that he and Sonia Ekweremadu were cousins.

Headline

Russia Hits Ukraine With 85 Drones, One Missile

Published

10 hours ago

August 16, 2025

Editor

Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said Saturday, hours after Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump held their Alaska talks.

The highly anticipated meeting in the remote US state ended with no breakthrough in halting Russia’s more than three-year-long Ukraine invasion.

Ukraine’s air force said Moscow had “attacked with an Iskander-M ballistic missile and 85 Shahed-type” drones, while also attacking “frontline areas” in four regions.

In its daily report, the air force said the attacks took place “on the night of August 16” and started in the evening of August 15 — when Putin and Trump held their negotiations.

Kyiv said its air defences shot down 61 of the drones.

The Trump-Putin summit ended with no ceasefire announcement, despite the West pressing the Kremlin for months to commit to a halt in fighting.

Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, has not yet publicly reacted to the talks.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched by Putin in February 2022, has killed thousands.

AFP

Headline

Trump, Putin Make No Breakthrough On Ukraine Deal, End Summit

Published

10 hours ago

August 16, 2025

Editor

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin made no breakthrough on Ukraine at their high-stakes summit on Friday, pointing to areas of agreement and rekindling a friendship but offering no news on a ceasefire.

After an abrupt ending to three hours of talks with aides, Trump and Putin offered warm words but took no questions from reporters, highly unusual for the media-savvy US president.

“We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.

He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, although he did not offer specifics.

“There are just a very few that are left; some are not that significant, one is probably the most significant,” Trump said without elaborating.

Putin also spoke in general terms of cooperation in a joint press appearance that lasted just 12 minutes.

“We hope that the understanding we have reached will… pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” Putin said.

As Trump mused about a second meeting, Putin smiled and said in English: “Next time in Moscow.”

The former KGB agent quickly tried to flatter Trump, who has voiced admiration for the Russian leader in the past.

Putin told Trump he agreed with him that the Ukraine war, which Putin ordered, would not have happened if Trump were president instead of Joe Biden.

Trump, for his part, again complained of a “hoax” that Russia intervened to help him in the 2016 election, a finding backed by US intelligence.

Before the summit, Trump had warned of “severe consequences” if Russia did not accept a ceasefire.

But when asked about those consequences during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity after the talks, Trump said that “because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now.”

The friendly reception contrasted with Trump’s berating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he met him at the White House in February.

Trump earlier said he sought a three-way meeting with Zelensky but did not announce one at the summit.

Trump said he would now consult Zelensky as well as NATO leaders, who have voiced unease about the US leader’s outreach to Putin.

“Now it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump said in the Fox News interview after the summit.

Putin warned Ukraine and European countries to “not create any obstacles” and not “make attempts to disrupt this emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues.”

Trump invited Putin just a week ago and ensured there was some carefully choreographed drama for their first in-person meeting since 2019.

The two leaders arrived in their respective presidential jets and descended on the tarmac of an air base, with Trump clapping as Putin appeared.

US military might was on display with a B-2 stealth bomber flying overhead, as a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”

Putin, undaunted, grinned widely as Trump took the unusual step of escorting him into “The Beast,” the secure US presidential limousine, before a meeting in a room before a screen that said, in English only, “Pursuing Peace.”

Putin smiled and joked with Russian reporters on the visit, a landmark for a leader who is facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court related to the Ukraine war, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

Russia, in recent days, has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations, although Ukraine announced, as Putin was flying in, that it had retaken several villages.

Trump had insisted he would be firm with Putin, after coming under heated criticism for appearing cowed during a 2018 summit in Helsinki.

While he was travelling to Alaska, the White House announced that Trump had scrapped a plan to see Putin alone, and he instead held the talks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his roving envoy Steve Witkoff.

Zelensky was not included and has refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.

“It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

Headline

Russia, Ukraine War: Trump Rules Out Immediate Ceasefire, Pushes For Peace Deal

Published

10 hours ago

August 16, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump early Saturday ruled out an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after his inconclusive summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying a direct peace agreement would end the war.

The White House and Kremlin leaders pointed to areas of agreement during their three hours of talks in Alaska, but offered no breakthrough on a ceasefire in the conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and caused widespread destruction in Ukraine.

“A great and very successful day in Alaska!” Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social platform hours after touching down in Washington.

“The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late-night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO.”

He said it was determined by all that the best way to end the “horrific war… is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often do not hold up.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier he will go to Washington for a meeting with the US leader on Monday, which Trump confirmed would be held in the Oval Office.

“If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin,” Trump added, without specifying whether it would be a three-way meet.

“Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”

The war went on meanwhile with Ukraine announcing that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Russia said it had taken two more villages in Ukraine.

Zelensky voiced support for Trump’s proposals in an earlier social media post.

“We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this,” he wrote.