The lucrative business of organ trafficking appears to still be going strong in Nigeria with India being the destination for the sometimes illegal business.
The Punch published a special report on how Nigerians are allegedly tricked into selling their kidneys at hospitals in India.
This is a sad tale of how poverty and ignorance drives people into desperate situations in the search for ‘financial independence’.
In the report, Martin, a plumber tells of how he sold one of his kidneys for $7,500 in 2008 and how he was swindled of the money.
Excerpts of The Punch report:
So when Martin was approached by his childhood friend, he did not think times over before accepting the offer. He would sell his kidney, his friend, who was also the agent, would make about $1,800 (N300,000), while he would pocket the balance — $5,600 (N900,000). He felt it was balanced Mathematics, but the complexity of the deal was none he could have imagined.
According to Martins, his friend, Sola, had a link with some individuals in Nigeria, mostly people who were looking for people who could donate kidneys to loved ones who needed to be flown abroad for kidney transplant.
A part of the money paid for the kidney would go to the agent, while the other part would be given the donor.
As an agent, Sola was called one day in October 2008 by a client who was based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The client was a man whose 27-year-old daughter’s two kidneys had failed and needed to be flown to India for a transplant. N1.2m was the amount agreed upon by both parties to strike a deal.
Then the agent’s work was to look for someone who would sell his kidney and be paid a part of the money put down by the client.
Martins was the donor in this case who was hoping he would make N900,000 when the deal was over, but his friend chose to be ‘smarter’ than him. Instead of being paid, he (Martins) was the one who ‘paid’ and is still ‘paying.’
Martins said, “When I was tricked into selling my kidney for money, it was even a close friend of mine that introduced me into the trade. And I did not doubt him for a second. I wanted my life to change positively. I did not know he would eventually betray me due to the trust I had in him. Things were a bit tough for me then and I was desperate to make a change in my life.
Read the full report HERE
