…. Police step in
CITIZENS COMPASS— This is not merely the story of a missing kidney or the price of the human kidney in Abuja. It is the story of how poverty, medical expertise, forged identities and aggressive middlemen may have been brought together to turn vulnerable young Nigerians into sources of human spare parts.
And it might have remained hidden but for Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
On August 18, 2026, 22-year-old Samuel Ezekiel walked into the activist’s office with a frightening account: he said a hospital in Abuja had removed his left kidney.
VeryDarkMan later described it as one of the scariest cases he had handled. But his organisation did not immediately broadcast Ezekiel’s allegation as fact. The young man was sent for medical examinations at Nisa Premier Hospital and later at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi.
According to VDM’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, both examinations confirmed that Ezekiel’s left kidney was absent. With the medical question partly answered, another emerged: how, when and under what circumstances was the organ removed?
The answer has now developed into a police investigation involving two doctors, alleged recruiters, forged documents and a private hospital in Abuja.
The Nigeria Police Force said Ezekiel’s kidney was allegedly removed on April 24, 2026, at Wellington Hospital in Life Camp, Abuja.
Before the procedure, his identity was allegedly changed through an affidavit from Samuel Ezekiel to “Hassan Abubakar.” Investigators said documents used in the alleged arrangement included altered names, National Identification Numbers, birth records, affidavits and consent papers.
Ezekiel was paid $1,250—about ₦1.7 million—according to the police.
During the parade of suspects, the young man admitted that he signed documents and received the dollar payment. He alleged, however, that his friend, Emmanuel Ode, deceived him about the consequences of giving up a kidney and assured him that the procedure was harmless.
This is not merely the story of a missing kidney or the price of the human kidney in Abuja. It is the story of how poverty, medical expertise, forged identities and aggressive middlemen may have been brought together to turn vulnerable young Nigerians into sources of human spare parts.
Ezekiel said he handed the money to Ode, who converted it and spent much of it on phones, power banks, Wi-Fi devices and other items. Ezekiel was subsequently taken to Cross River State, where he remained during his recovery. His mother reportedly knew nothing about the procedure and received none of the money.
That admission changed the public understanding of the matter.
It was no longer simply the nightmare of a patient being sedated and secretly stripped of an organ. It became something more complicated but no less disturbing: the alleged exploitation of a poor young man who was renamed, persuaded to sign documents, paid a fraction of what others may have gained and left to live permanently with one kidney.
A signature does not automatically establish informed consent. Consent obtained through deception, false information or concealed medical risks is open to serious legal and ethical challenges. More importantly, Nigerian law does not permit the commercial sale of human organs merely because the person involved signed a document.
VeryDarkMan’s role went beyond posting a viral video after the event.
After Ezekiel approached him, his organisation paid for independent medical verification and submitted a petition through the Martins Vincent Otse Initiative. The hospital reports and the name of the facility where the disputed operation allegedly took place were then made public.
Police Special Tactical Squad operatives conducted a sting operation on August 19 at Auta Balifi in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. Four suspects were subsequently arrested and paraded.
They were identified as Emmanuel Ode, 23; Dr Benjamin Oyime, 48, a nephrologist and consultant to Wellington Hospital; Dr Daniel Otukpa, 53, another nephrologist and the hospital’s acting director of clinical services; and David Idoko, 25.
The police alleged that Ode recruited vulnerable young people under false pretences. Investigators also said the suspected network targeted financially distressed and poorly educated youths in Nasarawa State and communities bordering the Federal Capital Territory.
A second alleged victim told investigators that he had been recruited by the same agent in 2022 and paid ₦7 million after his kidney was removed. VeryDarkMan also alleged that Ode had previously given up one of his kidneys before becoming involved in recruiting others.
Abubakar told Channels Television that over 10 young men around Masaka, Mararaba and Nyanya might have been caught in similar arrangements. He further alleged that some kidneys were transferred for between ₦50 million and ₦70 million while those from whom the organs were taken received only a small fraction.
Those figures have not been independently established. They form part of the allegations that investigators must now test by examining medical records, bank transactions, telephone communications, transplant registers and the identities of recipients.
The four suspects have not been convicted, and the allegations against them remain subject to investigation and prosecution. Wellington Hospital had not issued a detailed public response to the claims at the time of the initial reports. Peoples Gazette reported that calls to the hospital’s publicly listed telephone number seeking comment went unanswered.
–GWG
