A Nigerian senator and a woman have been charged with conspiring to arrange to bring a child to the UK to harvest organs, the Metropolitan Police said.
Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, both from Nigeria, are charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
They have been remanded in custody and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court later on Thursday.
The Met said a child has been safeguarded.
The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022, the force said.
Mr Ekweremadu is one of the most senior and well-connected politicians in Nigeria.
He is a member of the main opposition group, the People’s Democratic Party, and has served as a senator for the south-eastern Enugu State since 2003.
'An old ally to President's'
Mr Ekweremadu is an old ally of Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan and served as the Deputy President of the Nigeria Senate, one of the most powerful positions in the country, from 2007 to 2019.
A trained lawyer, he was appointed Visiting Professor of Corporate and International Linkages at the University of Lincoln earlier this month.
While accepting the appointment, Mr Ekweremadu reportedly said that he saw it as “a call to serve humanity and I am always highly appreciative of it.”
The People's Democratic Party declined to give a comment to The Telegraph.
The trafficking of human beings for organ removal is a major issue in North and West Africa where impoverished and displaced people are at greater risk of exploitation, according to Interpol.
An Italian government investigation found that African migrants trying to reach Europe who were unable to pay for their journeys across the Mediterranean were being sold to organ traffickers in 2016.
The World Health Organization estimates that between five and ten per cent of global organ transplants are performed using illegally sourced organs.
The EU estimates that the organ trafficking business is worth between 600m and 1.2bn dollars annually.
A Met Police statement said: "A woman and a man were charged today with conspiring to arrange the travel of a child into the UK in order to harvest organs."
"The charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime team."
"Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting."
"Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting."
