September 13, (THEWILL) – The embattled former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has prayed the Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss an application filed by kidney donor, David Nwamini Ukpo, seeking to restrain the release of his biodata to the Federal Government for onward transmission to the senator.
THEWILL had reported that Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested and arraigned before Uxbridge Magistrates Court in West London, for alleged trafficking of a 15-year-old Ukpo into the United Kingdom for a concealed medical procedure to harvest and transplant his kidney to their ailing daughter.
Although the London police said Ukpo is 15, his passport and bank verification number (BVN) show he is 21.
Following the controversy over Ukpo’s age, Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), on June 27, urged Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to order the release of official documents of Ukpo domiciled with NIMC, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and Stanbic-IBTC Bank for the purpose of effectively defending Ekweremadu in the UK.
In its ruling on July 6, the Federal High Court ordered the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to transmit the Certified True Copy (CTC) of Ukpo’s biodata to the AGF for onward transmission to the United Kingdom (UK) where Senator Ekweremadu is facing alleged organ harvesting charges.
But in an application filed through his team of lawyers, led by Bamidele Igbinedion, Ukpo had accused Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, of violating his fundamental human rights.
He noted that the former deputy senate president ought to have joined him and the AGF as parties in the suit.
He said the court erred when it granted Ekweremadu application without taking arguments from him.
Ukpo argued that the reliefs granted by the court violated his basic and constitutional right to privacy, which is protected by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
He prayed Justice Inyang Ekwo to set aside the orders, directing some agencies of government and banks to release his biodata to Ekweremadu and his wife.
But in a counter affidavit deposed to by Bright Ekweremadu, the immediate younger brother to the ex-deputy Senate President, the applicants, said Ukpo was not entitled to the reliefs sought, as the law did not permit such.
The counter affidavit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2022, was dated and filed on September 8 by their counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).
In a 20-point argument, Ekweremadu argued that though the court gave its ruling on July 1, Ukpo’s right to fair hearing was not breached.
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