By Racheal Abujah, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Believing he was getting treatment to better his health, 22-year-old Samuel Ezekiel followed an acquaintance’s advice and went to the hospital.
Ezekiel later alleged that his kidney had been removed.
His case is now at the centre of a police investigation into an alleged organ-trafficking network operating between Abuja and Nasarawa, raising concern about how effectively Nigerian laws can protect people from illegal organ harvesting.
Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution guarantees the dignity of the human person and protects personal liberty, while the National Health Act, 2014, regulates aspects of organ transplantation and prohibits the commercialisation of human organs.
The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, also criminalises trafficking for organ removal.
Recent cases have, however, exposed concerns about consent, documentation, medical oversight and the ability of victims to obtain justice.
The Nigeria Police Force recently announced the arrest of four suspects in connection with an alleged kidney-trafficking network.
Among those arrested were two medical doctors and two alleged facilitators.
The police alleged that vulnerable young people were recruited and that documents were manipulated to facilitate kidney removal.
The investigation also raised concerns about the alleged use of false identities and documentation.
In Ezekiel’s case, investigators alleged that his name was changed to Hassan Abubakar through an affidavit before the procedure.
If established in court, such manipulation could make it more difficult to trace a patient’s identity, verify consent and establish what happened during surgery.
Police said the investigation was continuing, and a court of competent jurisdiction had not yet determined the allegations against the suspects.
Aliyu Abdu, Professor of Medicine at Bayero University, Kano (BUK) and a Consultant Nephrologist at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), said that legitimate living kidney donation was a highly regulated medical procedure.
Abdu said potential donors underwent medical and psychological assessment, blood and compatibility testing and detailed examination to determine whether they could safely undergo surgery and live with one kidney.
“The donor must also give informed and voluntary consent.
“The kidney is removed under anaesthesia by a specialised medical team and the donor requires appropriate post-operative care.
“This makes the alleged illegal removal of a kidney fundamentally different from legitimate donation,” he said.
According to an Abuja-based lawyer Mr Musa Isiaka, where consent is obtained through deception, coercion or exploitation, or where documentation is falsified, the medical procedure may become part of a criminal investigation.
Isiaka said that consent was emerging as one of the most difficult issues in organ-harvesting cases.
“A signature on a document does not necessarily answer whether a person understood what they were agreeing to.
“Investigators must determine what the donor was told, what procedure the person believed would be performed, whether money was offered and whether deception or pressure influenced the decision,” he said.
He said the issue became more complicated when the potential donor was economically vulnerable.
Isiaka said that recruiters could, allegedly, present kidney donation as a quick solution to financial problems, sometimes minimising the risks of major surgery.
Dr Aisha Bello, a medical expert, warned that losing a kidney was not a simple financial transaction.
“Although, many carefully screened donors can live healthy lives with one kidney, donation involves surgery and requires proper medical assessment and follow-up,” Bello said.
The Abuja-Nasarawa investigation has also highlighted the economic incentive surrounding alleged organ trafficking.
The police alleged that vulnerable donors could receive relatively small payments while kidneys were subsequently offered to recipients for much larger sums.
In one reported account, a victim was allegedly paid about 1,250 dollars, approximately N1.7 million.
The alleged disparity illustrates how poverty can become a tool of exploitation. For a young person struggling to survive, millions of naira may appear attractive.
According to Bello, the person bears the permanent physical consequences of the operation while others may profit from the transaction.
The Abuja-Nasarawa investigation is not the only case to have raised concerns.
In 2024, NAPTIP arraigned the managing director of Alliance Hospital, Dr Christopher Otabor, and three other defendants before the FCT High Court in Zuba over alleged organ harvesting.
The defendants pleaded not guilty. The case involved allegations concerning young persons who, prosecutors said, had been recruited for kidney removal. The matter is yet to be concluded in court.
In Plateau, the police also investigated a case involving a woman who reportedly discovered that her kidney was missing years after surgery.
The different cases are not necessarily connected, and allegations against individuals must be determined through due process.
However, they have collectively increased scrutiny of the country’s transplant system.
For victims, Isiaka said that the legal process could be as difficult as the alleged crime itself.
Mr Ameh Zion, Founder of the Mandate Health Empowerment Initiative (MHEI), said that the victim might require medical monitoring, psychological support and continuing healthcare.
“Questions therefore arise as to who provided such care when the alleged procedure was unlawful.
“This raises critical questions about whether victims receive immediate medical assessment,” he said.
The Federal Government has acknowledged the need for stronger regulation.
In 2025, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare unveiled the Standards and Guidelines for Establishing and Coordinating Transplantation Services in Nigeria.
The document addresses ethics in transplantation, donor protection, patient safety, minimum standards and compliance procedures.
Speaking at the unveiling event in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, said the guidelines were designed to restore public confidence in organ donation.
Salako said that public confidence could be restored through transparency, accountability and adherence to international best practices.
He said the government would map and certify health institutions involved in organ donation and transplantation.
The minister also announced plans to establish an organ donation and transplantation registry and banking system.
He said the guidelines were developed against the background of troubling incidents of unethical organ harvesting and other excesses within the transplantation sector.
Bello said that the new guidelines provided a regulatory foundation, but implementation will determine their effectiveness.
She said that the government would need to demonstrate that transplant facilities were actually being mapped and certified, that donor identities were independently verified and that consent procedures are properly scrutinised.
“The proposed national registry could also become an important accountability tool if it captures reliable information on donors, recipients, transplant facilities and procedures while protecting confidential patient information.
“Without effective monitoring, however, regulations can remain largely administrative documents,” she said.
NAPTIP and the Nigeria Police Force have increasingly treated alleged organ trafficking as a criminal and trafficking issue rather than simply a medical matter.
NAPTIP has prosecuted organ-harvesting cases, while the police have conducted investigations and operations targeting suspected networks.
But arrests are only the beginning.
The Alliance Hospital matter remains before the courts, while the Abuja-Nasarawa case remains under investigation. No suspect should be treated as guilty until a court determines the case.
At the same time, victims should not have to wait indefinitely for protection, medical care or answers. Nigeria can also examine how other countries regulate living donation.
In the UK, the Human Tissue Authority provides independent oversight of living organ donation.
Independent assessors speak with donors separately from the transplant team to establish that consent is voluntary and that the donor is not being improperly influenced or rewarded.
Such independent scrutiny provides an additional safeguard because the hospital performing the transplant is not the only institution determining whether the donation is legitimate.
For Nigeria, the lesson is not necessarily to copy another country’s system, but to consider whether independent donor assessment could strengthen its own transplant framework.
Dr Gabriel Adakole, a public health expert, said preventing illegal organ trafficking required stronger collaboration among health regulators, law-enforcement agencies, professional bodies and the courts.
Adakole said that the idea was to ensure that victims had access to medical and legal support.
He said that the challenge also extended beyond kidneys to other human organs, tissues and biological materials, requiring broader oversight and accountability.
“Health stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential exploitation of vulnerable people in the procurement of other human tissues and reproductive materials, making broader oversight increasingly important,” he said.
Nigeria now has laws against trafficking and the commercialisation of human organs, as well as national guidelines aimed at strengthening transplantation standards, while the Police and NAPTIP continue to investigate and prosecute cases.
However, Isiaka said that the real test lied in what happened after an alleged victim left the operating theatre, whether the person’s identity and consent were properly verified, the procedure was lawful, and the facility was adequately monitored.
“It also raises questions about who investigates when something goes wrong and who provides the victim with appropriate medical, legal and other support.
“And, where criminal conduct is established, can the justice system deliver a final judgment without years of unnecessary delay,” he questioned.
These answers will reveal whether Nigeria’s legal protections genuinely safeguard the vulnerable or exist only on paper.
Since a stolen kidney cannot be replaced, the justice system is obligated to deliver the absolute truth, comprehensive healthcare, and strict accountability for the victims.
For observers, this case is the ultimate test of the country’s legal shield.(NANFeatures)
Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo
***If used, please credit the writer and the News Agency of Nigeria.
(NAN)
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