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David Nwamini, the victim of a botched organ harvesting plot by a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has begged the United Kingdom government to allow him to stay back in the country.
The 21-year-old Lagos street trader's plea was contained in an impact statement read during the sentencing of Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and Dr Obinna Obeta on Friday, May 5, 2023.
The trio of Ekweremadu, Beatrice and Obeta had earlier been found guilty of conspiring to arrange the travel of a young man with a view to exploiting him for his kidney for use by the Ekweremadus ill daughter, Sonia.
Obeta, who the victim implicated for luring him to the UK, was the doctor contracted by the Ekweremadu family to facilitate the transplant billed to take place at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales sentenced the Nigerian lawmaker to nine years and eight months in prison on Friday, while Beatrice would serve a four-year and six-month term and Obeta bagged 10 years for his role in the crime.
But, David told the court that he's scared of returning to Nigeria over fears that he may be arrested or killed.
The victim is the oldest of seven children of his parents and was forced to become a street trader to provide for his family when his father developed a heart problem.
He said the Ekweremadus approached him via Obeta who sold him on a life-changing opportunity to work in the UK without him being aware of what the grand plan was.
"I would have not agreed to any of this, my body is not for sale," The Independent quoted him to have said.
David further told the court that the Ekweremadus are dangerous and someone visited his father in Nigeria to pressure him to drop the case.
His words: “I worry for my safety in Nigeria. Those people can do anything. I think they could arrest me or kill me in Nigeria.
He also told the court that he wants no compensation from his tormentors who he described as “bad people.”
"My plan now is to work and to get an education and to play football," he said.
It'd be recalled that the couple were arrested on arrival at Heathrow Airport back in June 2022.