A young Nigerian, Samuel Ezekiel, has alleged that his friend, Emmanuel Odeh, changed his identity to “Hassan Abubakar” before he underwent kidney removal at Wellington Hospital, Life Camp, Abuja.
Ezekiel also alleged that Odeh collected money paid to him for the procedure and later changed the dollars, using part of the money to buy mobile phones, power banks and Wi-Fi devices.
He made the allegations on Friday while speaking to journalists during the parade of suspects linked to an alleged organ-harvesting syndicate by the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja.
Ezekiel said he trusted Odeh, whom he described as his friend, and initially believed they were simply going to the hospital.
“It’s my friend that deceived me. His name is Emmanuel Udeh,” he said.
He explained that Odeh later introduced him to a man identified as David, who took him to an agent called Ben for medical tests.
According to Ezekiel, the results of his first test did not match those of the intended kidney recipient.
He said the agent later told him that another recipient had been found and that his kidney was a match.
Ezekiel alleged that he was subsequently informed that his name would be changed before the procedure.
“Then he now said that they are going to change my name, that I will be bearing Hassan Abubakar,” he said.
He said they were taken to the Federal High Court, where an affidavit was prepared before they proceeded to Wellington Hospital.
“Then from there, they now took us to the Federal High Court, where they did the affidavit. Then from there, we now went to the hospital, Wellington Clinic,” he said.
Ezekiel said they signed documents at the hospital before he was taken into the theatre.
He alleged that money in dollars was handed to them late at night shortly before the operation.
“After we sign, then later in the night around 10:00 to 11:00, they now come and give us money in dollars,” he said.
According to him, he handed the money to Odeh for safekeeping before entering the theatre.
“After they give us the money, then when I wanted to enter the theater, I gave Emmanuel the money to hold it,” Ezekiel said.
He alleged that Odeh had changed the money and spent part of it by the time he came out of the theatre.
“After I gave him the money, when I came out from the theater, then later in the evening, Emmanuel came back. He had already gone and changed the money,” he said.
Ezekiel claimed that Odeh bought two phones, two power banks and two Wi-Fi devices with some of the money.
“He bought two phones, two power banks, and two Wi-Fi. Then he now gave me one and held one. Everything he bought, he gave me one and held one,” he said.
The young man said he spent about one week at the hospital before he was discharged.
He alleged that Odeh subsequently took him to a hotel, where he spent two days before taking him to Cross River State.
“After the hotel, we spent two days, and then he now took me to his state in Cross River. We spent almost like three months in Cross River,” he said.
Ezekiel said he later asked Odeh about the money he had received but was told that it had been spent.
“Before I asked him, ‘Where is the money?’ He told me that the money had finished,” he said.
He alleged that Odeh later told him they did not have money to return to Abuja and eventually sold his phone to raise transport fare.
“Then he said that we don’t have transport for coming back. He collected my phone and sold it. Then that is how we had transport and came back to Abuja,” Ezekiel said.
‘I was told kidney removal would not affect me’
Ezekiel said he was aware that a kidney would be removed but claimed that Odeh assured him that the procedure would not affect his health.
“He just told me that it’s something that they will just, uh, convert it, that there’s not any issue in there, that if they convert it, I can do everything that I want to do, that I will not have any issue,” he said.
He confirmed that he consented to the procedure, which he said took place at Wellington Hospital, Life Camp, on April 24.
Ezekiel said he was paid in dollars but could not give the exact amount.
Asked about the denomination of the money, he said, “It’s 100, 100 dollars with one 50 dollar.”
He, however, said he could not determine the total amount he received.
Police arrest doctors, alleged recruiters
Ezekiel’s account came as the police continued investigations into an alleged organ-harvesting network operating around Abuja and Nasarawa State.
The police on Friday paraded several suspects allegedly linked to the network following a sting operation in Auta Balefi, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Among those paraded were Dr Benjamin Oyime, a nephrologist and consultant to Wellington Hospital; Dr Daniel Otukpa, also a nephrologist and Acting Director of Clinical Services at the hospital; David Idoko and Odeh.
The police accused Odeh of recruiting victims for the alleged organ-harvesting network.
The Force also alleged that the syndicate targeted vulnerable young people and facilitated illegal kidney removal through forged documents and false representations.
The police said investigations were ongoing to identify and arrest other members of the alleged network.
The matter came to public attention after activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, said a young man approached his NGO with medical evidence indicating that his left kidney was missing.
The police subsequently commenced investigations into the allegations, leading to the arrest and parade of the suspects.
