Lawyer Alleges N1.5m Paid to Abuja Man After Kidney Removal

A lawyer to social media activist VeryDarkMan, Abubakar Marshal, has alleged that a young man whose left kidney was reportedly removed in Abuja was paid about N1.5 million following the procedure.

Marshal made the allegation during a televised interview monitored by Vanguard, claiming that the young man was given about $1,300, which he said was equivalent to approximately N1.5 million at the time.

According to the lawyer, the case came to the attention of the Martins Vincent Center Initiative (MRI), an organisation headed by VeryDarkMan, after the young man approached the group alleging that his left kidney had been unlawfully removed.

Marshal said the organisation initially questioned the claim and asked the young man to provide medical evidence.

He said the man later returned with a medical report indicating that his left kidney was absent.

“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.

“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,” Marshal said.

The lawyer further alleged that the young man was paid about $1,300 after the alleged kidney removal.

According to him, the payment was allegedly made to prevent the young man from speaking about the procedure.

He also alleged that the man’s identity was subsequently changed through an affidavit in which he was given another name, purportedly to conceal the transaction.

Marshal said the young man later developed complications about a month after the alleged procedure, including an infection and pus reportedly coming from the area around his left side.

Lawyer alleges wider organ-harvesting network

The lawyer further claimed that the case was not an isolated incident, alleging that other young men around the Karu, Nyanya and Mararaba areas of the Federal Capital Territory had either reported or were being identified in connection with similar cases.

“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 an exploitation of poverty, claiming that some medical facilities allegedly used intermediaries to target financially vulnerable young men and persuade them to donate organs.

He further alleged that some donors received relatively small payments while the kidneys were subsequently sold to recipients for substantially higher amounts.

“Some of these donees, which these hospitals sold some of these kidneys to, pay as high as N50 million to N70 million,” he claimed.

Lawyer explains legal requirements

Marshal stressed that organ transplantation itself is not illegal in Nigeria but argued that the alleged circumstances surrounding the cases could amount to criminal conduct where there is no informed consent, financial inducement or compliance with relevant laws.

“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 governing organ donation and transplantation in Nigeria.

Marshal also alleged that the parents of the affected young men were not involved in the 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.

The lawyer called for investigations and legal action against any medical facilities or practitioners found to have participated in unlawful organ harvesting, urging authorities to stop what he described as an emerging threat in the FCT.

However, Vanguard could not independently verify the allegations. Marshal did not identify the specific hospitals, medical practitioners or other individuals allegedly involved in the reported cases.