A 16-year-old boy, whose kidney was removed by an Abuja hospital, has narrated how family members and security officials discovered the incident.
Yahaya Musa was testifying as a witness on Tuesday before an FCT High Court in Zuba in the ongoing trial of four staff of the Alliance Hospital and Services Ltd, accused of the alleged offences.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) arraigned Dr Christopher Otabor, Emmanuel Olorunlaye, Chikaodili Ugochukwu and Dr Aremu Abayomi on an 11-count charge bordering on illegal organ harvesting.
It was Daily Trust that first exposed the organ trading activities in parts of Abuja and Nasarawa State after a detailed investigation and interviews with victims.
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Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Hassan Dahiru Esq, Musa narrated that he had to contact his elder brother when one Abdulrahman Mohammed, who introduced him to the hospital, accosted him to collect his share of the N500,000 that he was paid in cash.
He said he woke up three days after the operation, which took place on May 26, 2023 and stayed two weeks in a hotel before deciding to go home by first visiting his aunty, whom he identified as Jemila.
He said it was his brother who alerted their father after Abdulrahman told him the problem and he saw the stitches on his left abdomen, adding that his father also informed the local vigilante, who then arrested Abdulrahman and informed some operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
He said the matter was referred to the police, the Legal Aid Council and the NAPTIP where he, Abdulrahman and another victim, Oluwatobi Adedoyin made statements before all the matters were charged to court.
Recalling how the organ harvesting deal was struck, he said Abdulrahman introduced him to the hospital, which conducted different urine and blood tests on him.
Further, he said on May 25, Mrs Ugochukwu took her to court where he signed an affidavit on a digital writer and thereafter she brought other documents (consent form) for him to sign without reading or explaining to him.
He said he was informed to return with three of his clothes to the hospital for the operation where he met Dr Aremu Abayomi, who explained to him to be calm as he would be performing the surgery successfully.
Under cross examination by defence counsel, Richard Adepoju Esq, the witness admitted that he informed the court that N500,000 was paid to him by one Mayor for his organ while he wrote in a statement dated September 15, 2023 that he was paid N780,000.
Responding to further cross examination by defence counsel, Afam Osigwe (SAN), the witness admitted that the deposition indicated he was 20 years old but he was 16 years.
The witness also admitted that the consent form indicated that he fully accepted the conditions and implications of the surgery.
However, he denied the contents of the affidavit that described Abdulrahman as his cousin and the contents of a civil claim number CV/7953/23 filed by the Legal Aid Council against the hospital, which contradicted portions of his testimony in court.
He said, “What is in the affidavit is not what happened but what I told the court today is exactly what happened.”
Meanwhile, Justice K.N. Ogbonnaya has adjourned the matter to today for the re-examination of the witness by the prosecution.
