CRIME: Inside Abuja’s Kidney ‘market’ Where The Rich Prey On The Poor
In August 2023, Daily Trust published how Oluwatobi Adedoyin, a 16-year-old son of a mechanic from Masaka in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State was lured by his friend, Yellow to sell his kidney. Oluwatobi was paid N1m in three installments, after which he was forced to flee Abuja.
Since then, the story has jolted a ring of kidney harvesting agents and a chain of victims that have come up to share their stories.
Ethically, organ donation is altruistic, based on the 2008 Istanbul declaration on Organ Trafficking and Tourism, which calls for the prohibition of organ commercialisation.
Except in Iran, it is illegal to buy and sell organs all over the world, especially when medical personnel or health centres connive with ready-buyers or recipients to exploit minors or people from low economic backgrounds.
Despite this, the World Health Organisation reveals that more than one kidney is traded on the black market every hour.
Findings by FCG on Sunday revealed that in November 2022, a video of a young man accusing Alliance Hospital in Abuja of harvesting his 17-year-old brother’s kidney went viral. In the video, the young man accused the hospital of lack of due diligence before the surgery. The management of the hospital had in a press conference denied the allegation, saying the ‘donor’ had signed a consent form and presented a court affidavit to show he was above 18 years.
But three months later, the hospital had in February 2023 harvested the kidney of Oluwatobi Adedoyin, another minor, and in June harvested that of Yahaya Musa, a 16-year-old despite the attention generated by the November 2022 video.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Christopher Otabor insists that the hospital does not source donors for its patients but only ensures that donors are qualified and compatible with patients to donate. Dr Otabor had in August told this newspaper that the hospital took care of the legal angle, insinuating that ‘donors’ are expected to present affidavits and sign a consent form before the surgery.
Like Oluwatobi, whose kidney was harvested and implanted in one Egbuson Sampson, which the hospital claims is now deceased, Yahaya Musa was a minor when he was lured to sell his kidneys for N1m. A certificate of birth presented by the Bauchi Medical Board shows that he was born on September 9, 2007 in Bauchi State.
Narrating how a kidney agent convinced him to sell his kidney, the 16-year-old said, “He told me that there is a hospital that buys kidney and that he also sold his own at N1m.”
After the necessary blood screening, Yahaya’s kidney was surgically removed, and a few days later, he walked out of Alliance Hospital, N1m richer. He paid the agent 10 per cent of the money.
A drug prescription sheet written for his post-surgery care made available to this newspaper showed it was signed by Dr Aremu Abayomi Adeniran, a consultant urologist and the deputy director, Clinical Service at Alliance Hospital. The same doctor had performed the surgery on Oluwatobi in February 2023.
Describing the pains he now goes through, Yahaya said, “The hospital gave me some drugs after the operation, but I went back and told them the drugs had finished and I was feeling pains in my stomach. Dr Aremu said I should take paracetamol anytime I feel the pain.”
But more than five months after the surgery, Yahaya said the pain had not subsided.
His 58-year-old father, Musa Yahaya confirms this and said that as soon as he found out, he reported the incident at the Garki police station and was informed that the police had invited Dr Adeniran for questioning but later released him.
