As demand for kidney, liver and heart transplants increases, especially in developed countries, there are concerns about the prevalence of human organ trafficking in Nigeria by people who have found it a very lucrative enterprise, LEADERSHIP Data Miners learnt.
Experts said the practice is unethical and exploitative and targets vulnerable persons who are financially disadvantaged. Those who know about it say it takes a network of rogues to carry out the act successfully. Concerned Nigerians want all the critical stakeholders in the nation's health sector to pool resources towards effectively tackling the human organ trafficking scourge.
LEADERSHIP Data Miners' investigations have revealed that the rising rate of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria is also fueling the illegal trade in harvested organs.
For example, in 2023, a University of Port Harcourt student was reported to have murdered his girlfriend and harvested her organs for ritual purposes. The findings also showed that the most trafficked organ in Nigeria is the kidney.
Data from the Global Database on Donation and Transplantation indicated that between 2015 and 2020, 651 kidneys were illegally transplanted from Nigeria.
The illegal organ trade is estimated to generate between $840 million and $1.7 billion globally. Kidney payments range from a few hundred dollars in less developed countries to $20,000-$30,000 in more developed regions. In 2020 alone, 129,681 organs were transplanted globally, with 36,125 sourced from deceased donors and an average of 15 transplants occurring per hour.
Out of desperation, many Nigerians also now sell their vital organs and, in the process, endanger their lives. Some Nigerian women have been said to be administering drugs that cause ovarian hyperstimulation to extract their eggs afterwards. There have also been instances where female undergraduates of some Nigerian universities sell their eggs to willing buyers to continuously feed the ever-growing IVF 'factories' with embryos, which had engendered the exploitation of young women for their eggs.
Unlike what is obtainable in the developed world, where eggs are donated freely under strict regulations, in Nigeria, stories abound about young girls selling their eggs for as little as N50,000. There have been reported claims about how young girls are forced to sell their eggs for peanuts. Media reports abound on claims of egg selling by girls as young as 16.
Recently, a 41-year-old resident of Ondo State, Olaniyi Iyiola, disclosed that poverty pushed him to contemplate selling one of his kidneys. He said although he was aware of the legal and health risks associated with kidney sales, the dire circumstances he found himself, providing for his children, left him with limited options.
Another dimension to the problem is that some unscrupulous Nigerians now recruit young boys and girls from rural communities with the promise of securing them good jobs in the cities when the real intention is to harvest their organs for sale. Last year, former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice and a medical doctor, Dr Obinna Obeta, were convicted of conspiring to exploit one David Nwamini, a Lagos-based trader, by taking him to the U.K., to harvest his organ (kidney) for donation to their daughter, Sonia Ekweremadu, who had been suffering from a kidney problem.
Ekweremadu and others were sentenced to years in prison for human trafficking in the United Kingdom.
Some stakeholders also worry that medical personnel are being incriminated in the menace.
In Abuja, the federal capital territory, following the uncovering of illegal kidney merchandising, a 16-year-old Yahaya Musa, who was lured and his kidney removed by an Abuja hospital, has narrated how family members and security officials discovered the incident.
LEADERSHIP TV reported last week that Musa was promised N1 million in exchange for his kidney. He testified on Tuesday as a witness before an FCT High Court in Zuba during the ongoing trial of four employees of Alliance Hospital and Services Ltd, who are accused of illegal organ harvesting.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) had arraigned Dr. Christopher Otabor, Emmanuel Olorunlaye, Chikaodili Ugochukwu, and Dr. Aremu Abayomi on an 11-count charge related to illegal organ harvesting. Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Hassan Dahiru, Musa recounted that he had to contact his elder brother after Abdulrahman Mohammed, who had introduced him to the hospital, approached him to collect his share of the N500,000 he had already received as part of the payment for the transaction.
This is an example of how lack of awareness about the risks and legal implications, combined with the desperation caused by poverty, makes individuals vulnerable to exploitation by organ traffickers. The promise of quick money often blinds victims to the dangers and legal consequences of participating in such illegal activities.
In response to the ugly trend, the immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA,), FCT chapter, Dr Charles Ugwuanyi, recently called for legislative action against organ trafficking to reflect the growing concern within the medical community about the illegal practice. He called for due process, saying through legislative action, Nigeria could take a significant step towards eradicating organ trafficking and protecting the well-being of citizens.
Also, a surgeon, Oluwole Adeleke, has said that critical stakeholders can no longer continue to watch from the sidelines. At the same time, evil people classify fellow human beings as commodities and benefit from their ignorance, desperation and, sometimes, greed.
He said that trafficking in human persons and human organs in Nigeria cannot be combated without the practical reform of the country's criminal justice system.
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Another health practitioner, Tobechukwu Ebemere, said trafficking in persons for organ removal is an offence that is increasing globally due to the increased rate of poverty in most countries of the world.
He said, "Observably, the victims of this offence are mostly the poor from the low-income economy.
The proactiveness of the Nigerian law enforcement agency in enforcing the law and unbiased enforcement of domestic laws on trafficking will go a long way in reducing the menace of this evil in society, experts say. A lawyer, Sururat Audu, urged the government and non-governmental agencies to sensitise Nigerians on the offence of trafficking in person for organ removal, especially the vulnerable class, in order not to fall victim to these traffickers who may have promised their victims a land filled with milk and honey only to turn them into commodities for exploitation.
She said, "The fight against human trafficking is an arduous task that requires a lot of funding. While the Nigerian government has fulfilled and is fulfilling its legislative obligations under international law to fight human trafficking, it is recommended that the Nigerian government should increase its budget allocation for the fight against trafficking.
"The perpetrators of these offences have improved their mode of operation through advanced technology. There is a need to adequately equip the agency responsible for combating human trafficking in Nigeria to enable them to perform their functions impressively."
