Lawyer Alleges N1.5m Paid for Illegally Harvested Kidney in Abuja

Abubakar Marshal made the allegation during a televised interview, claiming the young man was given about $1,300, which he said was equivalent to approximately N1.5 million at the time. According to Marshal, the case came to the attention of the Martins Vincent Center initiative, MRI, headed by VeryDarkMan, after the young man approached the organisation alleging that his left kidney had been removed. The organisation initially expressed doubts and asked the young man to obtain medical evidence.

"The young man came back with a medical report that showed the absence of his left kidney." We were curious ourselves, so we decided to verify the medical document he brought, Marshal said. "We went to two separate hospitals in Abuja, a reputable private hospital and another government hospital, which is the Federal Medical Centre in Jabi, Abuja, where it was confirmed that indeed, the young man's left kidney had been removed. He further alleged that the young man's identity was changed through an affidavit in which he was given a different name, allegedly to conceal the transaction.

According to Marshal, the young man subsequently developed complications about a month after the alleged procedure, including pus reportedly coming from the area around his left side. Marshal alleged that the case was part of a wider pattern of illegal organ harvesting involving vulnerable youths in parts of the Federal Capital Territory." He claimed that several young men around the Karu, Nyanya and Mararaba axis had either come forward or were being identified in connection with similar allegations. "Most of those boys around Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba axis, a lot of them are engaged in this unlawful (practice).

Some of those hospitals lure these young men into harvesting their organs illegally, without complying with the legal process, he alleged. Marshal described the alleged practice as exploitation of poverty, claiming that some medical facilities used agents to approach young men in financial difficulty and lure them into organ donation. He alleged that while some of the young men were paid relatively small amounts, kidneys were allegedly sold to recipients for millions of naira.

"Some of these donees, which these hospitals sold some of these kidneys to, pay as high as N50 million to N70 million, he claimed. The lawyer stressed that organ transplantation itself was not illegal in Nigeria, but argued that the alleged circumstances amounted to criminal conduct where there was no informed consent, financial inducement or compliance with relevant legal procedures. "For the donation of an organ to be lawful, there must be informed consent of an adult person.

There must also be no form of financial inducement," he said. He cited the National Health Act and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act as part of the legal framework applicable to organ donation and transplantation. Marshal also said the affected youths' parents were not involved in the alleged procedures.

"No family member of this young man was involved. None of their parents were involved. It was after the entire thing turned around and became an issue that their parents got involved and their parents got to know," he said.