The trial of suspects involved in an alleged illegal organ harvesting case has resumed before an FCT High Court in Gwarinpa, with one of the victims informing the court that he suffers from surgery-related complications.
The defendants include Emmanuel Muyiwa Olorunlaye; Chikaodili Ugochukwu; the Medical Director of the Alliance Hospital and Services Ltd, Dr Christopher Otabor and Dr Aremu Abayomi.
The matter was transferred from the high court in Zuba to Gwarinpa after the defendants accused the judge, Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya, of bias.
Testifying on Thursday, Musa Yahaya informed the court that due to complications from the operation, he always feels tired, can’t sit in one place for a long time, and cannot perform regular chores.
Led in evidence by the counsel for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Jonathan Esene Esq, Yahaya informed the court that “I am always tired and have to take a lot of water.”
He recounted how a friend, Abdulrahman Mohammed, lured him to the Alliance Hospital, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, alongside one boy identified as Junior, to do the organ harvesting deal for the sum of N1 million, from which the hospital staff still deducted charges for tests and consultations.
Yahaya also narrated how his father was assisted by the local vigilante to arrest Abdulrahman and hand him over to the Department of State Services (DSS), who conducted more confirmatory tests that he had lost one of his kidneys, at their medical unit.
He noted that after a few days, when his father discovered that Abdulrahman had been released by the DSS, he decided to complain to the Legal Aid Council, the police and NAPTIP.
Daily Trust first exposed organ trading activities in parts of the FCT and Nasarawa State linked to the hospital after an investigation and interviews with victims.
Among the witnesses were the three victims whose kidneys were allegedly removed at the hospital sometime in May 2023, including Oluwatobi Salman Salaudeen, Musa Yahaya and Aminu Yahuza.
Meanwhile, Justice Marian Hassan has adjourned the matter to September 25 for the cross-examination of the witness by the defence.
