51-year-old Obeta, is accused of being part of an international criminal conspiracy in an organ transplant trafficking plot.

A Nigerian doctor, Obinna Obeta has confessed that he lied that the potential kidney donor was his cousin.

According to him, he lied because he was “desperate” for his own operation to go ahead.

51-year-old Obeta, is accused of being part of an international criminal conspiracy in an organ transplant trafficking plot.

The Old Bailey heard how Dr Obeta had travelled with a donor from Nigeria in 2021 who he incorrectly said was his cousin.

He denies breaking modern slavery laws.

Former Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 56, were arrested for bringing a man to the UK to provide a kidney for their 25-year-old daughter, Sonia.

The Ekweremadus, however, denied conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation in May 2022.

Dr Obeta is accused of being an associate in the plot.

Yesterday, the court heard how Dr Obeta had successfully undergone a kidney transplant in the UK in 2021, with a donor travelling from Nigeria who was said to be his cousin.

But asked by his defence barrister, Sally Howes KC, if the man was in fact his cousin, Dr Obeta admitted that he was not.

“No, he’s not a blood relative. I wish to apologise for that,” Dr Obeta said.

“At that point, I was really desperate to survive,” he added.

Asked if he accepted that identifying him as a cousin was a lie, Dr Obeta said: “I’m not proud of that.”

Dr Obeta denied that he had offered any money for the donor’s kidney, or any kind of reward and told the court that he had kept in touch with the man after the operation.

“He was more like my son at this point,” Dr Obeta said.

The court heard that after his operation, Dr Obeta had contacted his donor to ask if he was able to find any further potential donors.

“There were others I had in mind. It’s not an easy task,” said Dr Obeta.

He told the court that he needed to know the motives of potential donors, while others were not going to have kidneys that matched.