Inside Nigeria’s booming black market for children’s organs

Illegal organ harvesting in Nigeria is apparently booming and becoming increasingly brutal. It could be only a matter of time before the nation is flooded with a large number of young people facing kidney-related health challenges. For the syndicates and their collaborators, the abominable trade has become another oil well, allowing them to smile all the way to the bank at the expense of vulnerable children’s lives. The menace may assume more disturbing dimensions in the days ahead if it continues to be treated with kid gloves. INNOCENT DURU reports.

When Oluwatobi Salaudeen, a secondary school leaver, received a call from a friend informing him about a job opening, he leapt with excitement, happy that an opportunity had come for him to work and earn some income to meet basic needs.

The opportunity appeared to demand urgent response as it required Oluwatobi to be at the place the following day.

Without hesitation, he left for his friend’s house when the day broke. Getting there, they left for the supposed place of work where developments that he did not recognise as red flags began to emerge. “We went for a scan,” he said innocently. Thereafter, “I followed another woman to sign a document. We finished very late. When I wanted to go home, my friend told me that I should not go. He urged me to stay back and go the following day.”

READ THE FULL STORY IN THE NATION