By Tunde Oyedoyin, London
The main prosecution witness at the ongoing Old Bailey trial of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and three others, including his wife, Beatrice and Sonia, their daughter, told the court on Thursday that he didn’t know what a kidney was when he came over to the United Kingdom on February 20th last year.
David Nwamini told jurors he thought the kidney and five other tests he was asked to do at a laboratory in Yaba, Lagos, two weeks before his travel were just to enable him obtain a UK visa.
Under cross-examination by Dr Obinna Obeta’s barrister, Ms Howes KC, Nwamini, 21, also said he thought he was coming to do a job in the UK. When asked why he didn’t ask what type of job he was coming to do, he said he knew they offered cleaning jobs here.
When told the reason he didn’t ask for the type of job or remuneration was because the discussion in Lagos wasn’t about coming to work, but about coming for a medical procedure with the ultimate aim of donating his kidney to Sonia Ekweremadu, he insisted he wouldn’t have agreed to do it or come.
Howes then responded by saying: “You agreed to donate your kidney, but didn’t plan going through.” He shook his head, reiterating he wasn’t told. When she referred him to page 41, entry 934 in the defence bundle, which was a WhatsApp message from Obeta, asking him to go to the Union Diagnostics Laboratory Centre to do six tests, including abdominal Ultrasound with kidney and blood group. She then asked, “Why did you think Dr. Obeta wanted you to have a rest of kidney and it’s sizes?” Speaking through the Ibo interpreter, Nwamini told the court he thought it was to obtain visa.
When Howes said: “you knew Dr. Obeta insisted your kidneys be measured,” the witness said: he doesn’t know what a kidney is as at then.
The Senator, his wife, Beatrice, Sonia and Obeta all watched from the dock until the jury was discharged at noon. Sonia and her mum were excused from the afternoon session because of her ongoing thrice a week, four -hour dialysis appointment.
Source: The Guardian
