Father of UK organ harvest witness dies after illness

The father of David Ukpo Nwamini, the key witness in the United Kingdom’s first illegal organ-harvesting prosecution, has died. Family sources said Mr. Felix Nwamini Ukpo passed away on Sunday after a prolonged illness linked to emotional distress over his estranged son’s disappearance since 2022.

David was at the centre of the high-profile case involving former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who was convicted alongside his wife, Beatrice, and Nigerian doctor, Obinna Obeta, for conspiring to arrange the travel of a man to harvest his kidney for Ekweremadu’s daughter. The London court in March 2023 sentenced Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife to four years and six months, and Obeta to ten years.

According to Felix’s son, Boniface, the family has not spoken to David since he reported the matter to British police in 2022, triggering the arrests and trial. “My father had been sick over the saga, and yesterday he finally died,” Boniface said.

The case, prosecuted by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, marked a historic first in Britain’s legal battle against illegal organ trafficking, leaving the Nwamini family fractured and in silence since the verdict.