By A young Nigerian man has come forward with a harrowing account of how someone he considered a close friend allegedly lured him into an organ-removal scheme, only to pocket most of the payment meant for him and disappear it into gadgets and travel.
A Trip to the Hospital That Wasn’t What It Seemed
Samuel Ezekiel told journalists that his friend, identified as Emmanuel Odeh, initially framed their trip as a simple hospital visit and that the trust between them was strong enough that he went along without asking too many questions. Speaking on the sidelines of a Nigeria Police Force parade of suspects tied to an alleged organ-harvesting ring operating between Abuja and Nasarawa State, Ezekiel said plainly that it was his own friend who deceived him.
From there, he said, Odeh connected him with another man named David, who in turn brought him to an agent identified only as Ben for a round of medical testing. His results initially failed to match the intended recipient, but Ezekiel said he was later told a new recipient had been found whose profile matched his own. It was at that point, he said, that he was informed his identity would be swapped for the procedure, and he would go by the name Hassan Abubakar instead of his own.
From the Court to the Operating Table
According to Ezekiel, the group’s next stop was the Federal High Court, where an affidavit was drawn up before they proceeded to Wellington Hospital in Life Camp, Abuja. There, he signed the necessary paperwork and was eventually taken into the operating theatre. He said payment was handed over in dollar notes and it arrived only late that night, somewhere around 10 or 11pm, just before he went in for surgery, and that he passed the cash to Odeh to hold onto while he was in theatre.
By the time he came out, Ezekiel said, the money had already been converted and partly spent on two phones, two power banks, and two Wi-Fi devices, with Odeh keeping one of each item and handing him the other.
Weeks in Recovery, Then a Long Detour
Ezekiel said the two of them remained at the hospital for roughly a week before being discharged, after which Odeh took him to a hotel for two more days. From there, rather than returning to Abuja, he said Odeh took him to Cross River State, where they stayed for close to three months. When he eventually pressed his friend about what had happened to the rest of the money, he was simply told it was gone. With no funds left even for transport back to Abuja, Ezekiel said Odeh sold his phone to cover the fare home.
Asked whether he had understood beforehand that a kidney would actually be removed, Ezekiel said he had been told as much but that Odeh had downplayed any risk, assuring him the procedure would not affect his ability to live normally afterwards. He confirmed he had consented to the surgery, which he said took place at Wellington Hospital on April 24, and that he was paid in a mix of hundred-dollar bills and a single fifty, though he could not recall the exact total.
The Wider Investigation
Ezekiel’s account emerged as police pressed ahead with a broader investigation into an alleged organ-trafficking network active around Abuja and Nasarawa State. Officers paraded several suspects on Friday following a sting operation in the Auta Balefi area of Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa. Odeh was named among those paraded, accused by police of recruiting victims into the scheme. Also presented to the press were Dr. Benjamin Oyime, a nephrologist and consultant at Wellington Hospital; Dr. Daniel Otukpa, another nephrologist who serves as the hospital’s Acting Director of Clinical Services; and a man identified as David Idoko.
Police allege the syndicate specifically targeted vulnerable young people, using forged documents and false representations to push through illegal kidney removals, and say the investigation remains active as they work to identify and arrest additional members of the network.
How the Case Came to Light
The scandal first surfaced publicly after activist Martins Otse, better known as VeryDarkMan, revealed that a young man had approached his organization with medical evidence showing his left kidney was missing. That disclosure prompted police to open an investigation, which has since led to the arrests and Friday’s parade of suspects.
