He emerged from his room in a red T-shirt and blue denim on
Sunday, August 3, 2014 in a state of despair and sober reflection. Slowly
settling down in a white plastic chair in the hotel lobby where he had agreed
to speak with our correspondent, he told a rather unusual story of his ordeal
in the hands of his close friend who lured him into selling one of his kidneys
for just $7,500 (N1.2m). That was 2008.
However, before he could talk, our correspondent had to part
away with N10,000, N5,000 paid in cash and the other N5,000 for exotic drinks
and meal.
Not knowing that his friend, who had also become an agent in
the international organ trade market, was only mindful of what would flood his
bank account, he went headlong into deciding that he would do his friend’s
bidding.
Martins said he had only one reason why he was willing to
sell one of his kidneys for that amount: financial independence.
He had tried to make a meaning out of his life. While
growing up, he had dreamt of becoming an engineer. But his parents did not have
the wherewithal to support his dream.
So he settled for the less and trained as a plumber. Up till
today, he said he is a professional plumber, but not the type that could free
him from poverty.
So when he 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.
“Sola was looking for someone to donate a kidney to a
person, and since I had been living in penury, I decided to take a chance. I
thought it was a little issue. He told me the huge amount of money that was
usually paid to donors. I told him I would do it.
“The client I was to sell my kidney to was in Port Harcourt
at that time, so I travelled there and was lodged in a hotel, the name of which
I cannot remember now. The following day, I was taken to the General Hospital
in the city for medical tests.”
To be tested by the doctors in the General Hospital, Port
Harcourt, Martins said he had to pretend as if he was a relative of the
patient, and that he did it ‘gladly.’ All he was hoping for was the money.
He said, “I had to pretend as if I was a family member of
the client who needed my kidney so doctors could allow me undergo the tests.
“I was made to undergo different medical tests ranging from
HIV, to blood group, and whether my kidney matched with that of the sick.
“That was just the beginning, and everything seemed to work
perfect. I was made to understand that assuming I had any disease like
gonorrhoea or others, I would be treated here before I travelled out of the
country, as far as my kidney matched with the sick’s.
“The second stage was the processing of visa and other
travelling documents for me. The agent was to take care of all this. My own
responsibility as the donor was just to obey all their commands.
“To process the visa, I took pictures with the family of the
patient, which made the officials at the embassy believe I was really a
relative of the client. I was also made to bear the name of the family of the
client so that there would be no suspicion by the officials at the embassy.”
Martins said he learned that if the client were a Yoruba, he
would be given a Yoruba name; in this case, the patient and his father (who was
the client) were from Rivers State, and so he was given a name that resembled
theirs.
He continued, “Meanwhile, as all these were going on, I
never knew that negotiations between the client and the agent were also
ongoing, I was just obeying their bidding; at least I thought my friend could
be trusted.
“Before we travelled and because everything seemed to be
working according to plan, my agent told me I had to get new clothes to travel
with to India, so I borrowed some money from them, to be repaid from the money
they would pay me.
“Normally, the client would not pay the agent the money
until the day of travelling and the agent would not pay the donor until he was
sure the operation was successful.
“I never knew all these until I experienced it. My friend
was the agent and that was why I did not bother asking for the money before I
travelled to India.
“On the day I was to travel with the family of the patient,
we were lodged in a hotel in the Ketu area of Lagos. We got to the airport
around 5am and I was thinking all through the journey. I was hoping my life
would be better if everything was successful.”
MIOT Hospitals in Chennai, India was the destination.
Everything had worked very well in Nigeria, but that was just the first step.
Martins continued, “We got to the hospital and we were
lodged there. The following day, I began another series of medical tests. The
medical personnel, who attended to me there, Doctor Tashir, sat me down and
asked who I was to the patient.
“I told the doctor she was my niece. He asked me if I knew
the consequence of what I was about to do, and I told him there was no problem.
For the next one and a half months, I underwent another series of medical
tests. The doctors at the hospital trashed the ones I did in Nigeria.
“While in the hospital, I was just not comfortable with the
way things were going. I wanted to be sure if the money I was expecting to do
this would really come, so I decided to call my friend who arranged the whole
thing how much I was going to be paid.
“But before I called my friend, I called the client to find
out how much he paid my friend. He (the client) was in Nigeria; it was only the
lady, her mother, and me who were in India. He told me he had paid them on the
day we travelled to India, and that was where the trouble began.
“I called the agent (my friend) and asked him why he did not
tell me the client had paid him.
“My friend (the agent) had even seized my phone to act as a
collateral in case I failed to come back to the country after the operation.
When I heard he had been paid, I had to remind him that it was my life I was
playing with, and he assured he would pay me once I returned to the country.
“The last stage after the medical tests was that I was taken
to their local council to face a panel. They asked me again if I was ready for
the operation that would last for 27 hours, and to know if I was ready for
death in case it came. To all these I said yes.
“Unfortunately, the patient’s mother started treating me
unfairly. She believed I had been paid. At a point, I had to tell my friend
that I would not do it again if I was not paid. I even told him to go and give
the money to my mother, though she did not know anything about it. But he kept
assuring me the money was safe.”
Eventually, Martin’s kidney was removed and everything
seemed to go well, but he later realised his woe had just begun.
He said, “After the removal of my kidney, I called the agent
again to tell him to send me some money for my flight home. That was when I
knew I had been used and dumped.
“He changed the tone of his voice and told me to stay in
India. He started asking me what I was coming to do in Nigeria. I had planned
to use the N900,000 to buy a bus for transport business here in Lagos, to start
life afresh. That had been my thought all along.
“On December 2, 2008, after about three months of being in
India and 10 days after the operation, I said I was going home. With no money
and no good treatment from the patient’s mother, I was stranded. Even though I
had the opportunity of stealing their dollar notes in their wardrobe, I did not
do so. I could never do such a thing. I felt pity for the lady.”
On December 3, 2008, Martins eventually got a ticket to be
flown to Nigeria and could not believe that he had been made to pass through
the horrible situation for nothing.
He said, “I tried all I could, and from the money I had
borrowed before leaving, I came back to Nigeria.
“My parents never knew where I went and stayed for almost
three months. Things were really pathetic. I met a lot of problems at home
which I hoped I could solve with the money I would get. On this same matter, I
lost my elder sister who was pregnant because it was her money that I took from
home, hoping that I would settle her when I return.
“The baby died, she too died, my world collapsed. Out of the
N900,000 I was expecting, my friend paid me only N250,000. That was after I had
threatened him. I could not involve the police because I knew it was one of
those hard choices I made. That was how I was duped in the process of selling
my kidney.”
From the amount he could collect from his agent, Martins was
able to set up a football viewing centre, which has since collapsed.
Another person with a similar story to tell is Dayo. Not
also willing to remain in financial mediocrity all his life, he thought the
‘mouth-watering’ offer Sola (same agent for Martins) offered him was not too
small to sell his kidney. Afterall, he learned in Biology that man needs only
one kidney to survive.
So when he was approached at the same time with his friend
by Sola, he did not bother to consult with anyone before he decided he would
sell his kidney for N1m.
Almost similar experience with Martins’, the same agent, who
is also their friend, manipulated him and gave him just N500,000 out of the sum
he bargained for.
However, the irony of the whole thing is that through some
manipulative means, the agent told Dayo that he was also into travelling agency
and that he could help him secure a visa to the United Kingdom, but the
unfortunate thing was that Dayo did not think twice before he withdrew the
whole money he was paid for selling his kidney.
He said, “I gave him the whole money he gave me back,
waiting to fly to London. Up till now, I have not heard anything from Sola
again neither have I been given any visa to travel. My whole life is in chaos
now.
“I cannot even tell anyone in my family that I did such a
horrible thing. I have been lying to many people who saw the mark on my body.
Who will ever believe I sold my kidney for money? My life is ruined.
“My mother will not even believe it. In my desperation for
money I have destroyed my whole life. I just pray that God will forgive me
because this is something I have never told anyone.”
Dayo only allowed our correspondent take his back picture,
using his right palm cover the stretch mark. He said his family and friends
would identify him if they see his full back.
Professor Itse Sagay, a human rights lawyer, believes that
organ trade is criminal and must be fought.
He said, “Definitely it is an infringement of the law
against threat to human life. It is contained in the criminal code. It takes on
a criminal hue. This matter should be investigated while the people doing this
trade should be punished according to the law.”
The Ministry of Health’s spokesperson, Dan Nwomeh, said
Nigeria needs to sign the proposed National Health Bill into law before organ
trade transactions get out of hand. He clamoured for the prompt signing of the
bill into law for the regulation of organ transplant in the country.
He said, “We hear rumours about the trade, but the truth of
the matter is that we have a big problem at hand, and this is because there is
no law regulating organ transplant in Nigeria. There is no law at all now, and
what can the Ministry of Health do when there is no law?
“That is why we have been canvassing for the signing of the
National Health Bill. If the bill is signed into law, important health issues
like organ transplant and fertility medicine will be regulated. It will not be
done in the secret.
“But while we are waiting for the National Health Bill to be
signed into law, everything depends on the practitioners to do the proper
thing. You cannot say someone who is into the organ trafficking business has
committed an offence since there is no law yet that is against or regulating
it.”
Nwomeh added that the Ministry of Health would continue to
canvass for the signing of the National Health Bill into law.
He said, “The health minister and the Ministry of Health will
continue to push forward until this particular bill is signed into law. Until
such happens, there are bound to be shady businesses like that.”
The Vice-President of the Commonwealth Medical Association
and former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele,
corroborated the comment of the health ministry.
He said that the bill takes into account provisions for the
regulation of organ transplant and fertility medicine in the country. He said
if the bill is not signed, the perpetrators would continue to have a field day.
Enabulele said, “Right now, organ trade is commoner outside
the country, especially in India, and so it is not unexpected that the business
there is booming due to the fact that people from other countries go there to
do it.
“It is definitely illegal and a criminal act, but in the
absence of regulation, no one can be blamed. People are doing many things
underground and even if you apprehend them, under what law are you going to
charge them? What penalties will be levied on them?
“In terms of the robustness of the trade in Nigeria, I think
one is certainly not very much aware of how it is, but I know that the usual
destination point is India because that is where all sorts of trafficking take
place.
“This is one of the reasons that when I was the president of
the Nigerian Medical Association, I actively supported the passage of the
National Health Bill because it has the provisions for the regulation of organ
transaction, including the kidney, to make sure there are rules and strict
adherence to the guidelines for organ transactions, unlike having an
unregulated market where anything happens.
“It is even now important that there is acceleration in
terms of getting the President’s assent to harmonise the National Health Bill
to prevent the burgeoning of illegal organ transactions. If it is happening, it
is the sign that there needs to be some sort of regulation.
“If the guidelines are not there, there will be an
astronomical increase in criminal activities in organ transplant due to the
level of poverty. Many unwilling donors will end up in the hands of fraudsters.
If people must donate their organs, then it must be according to certain
guidelines.
“Normally, organs are not what to be donated for a fee, it
should be voluntary out of empathy for a victim (either a relative or friend)
just like blood donation. It should be out of one’s empathic disposition.
“Guidelines must be put in place to prevent extortions like
this whether they are doing it because of poverty or not. A framework must be
put in place to regulate organ transplant in the country through the signing of
the health bill.”
Enabulele emphasised that there was nothing wrong in
donating human organs, but that it should be done voluntarily and freely under
the regulation of the law.
He added, “There is nothing wrong with a doctor offering
help out of his own volition in referring a patient who needs an organ
replacement to countries like India; however, it must be voluntary or else the
whole essence of the human life is gone.”
A mail sent to the MIOT hospitals, Chennai, India was not
replied as of the time of going to press.
The spokesperson for the India High Commission in Lagos, Mr.
Vyan Choudhauy, expressed surprise that some Nigerians are engaged in the trade
in his country. He also promised to send a message to the Consul in India for
proper investigation.
He said, “Definitely, it is a wrong thing to do. I will
forward a mail to the Indian Consul and I am sure necessary actions will be
taken against the situation. No matter the money involved, it is wrong for
people to sell their organs. We will do everything possible to investigate this
matter and give you the feedback.
Punch.
