ABUJA: A 22-year-old man, Samuel Ezekiel, has narrated how a friend allegedly lured him into an organ trafficking syndicate that resulted in the removal of his kidney at Wellington Clinic in Abuja.

Ezekiel, who spoke to journalists on Friday, alleged that his friend, Emmanuel Ode, persuaded him to undergo kidney removal, assuring him that nothing would happen to him afterward.

“It was my friend that deceived me. His name is Emmanuel Ode. Emmanuel told me when they removed it nothing will happen. He said if they remove my kidney nothing will happen,” Ezekiel said.

According to the victim, Ode introduced him to an agent through another man identified as David, who eventually took him to meet an alleged agent named Ben in Abuja.

Ezekiel said he underwent a series of medical tests after meeting the agent, but was initially told that his kidney did not match that of the intended recipient.

“Emmanuel linked me with David, who took me to inside town (Abuja) to meet the agent called Ben. We ran some tests. After some days, we were told that my test does not match the person we want. However, two days after they called us that they had seen someone whose kidney matched his own,” he recounted.

Ezekiel further alleged that the syndicate changed his identity before taking him to court to execute an affidavit and subsequently to the hospital.

He said he was instructed to assume the name Hassan Abubakar and was taken to the High Court to execute documents reflecting the new identity.

“So Emmanuel took me to Ben in town. When we met Ben he said they will change my name. I will be bearing Hassan Abubakar. From there they took me to the High Court and did the affidavits. Then they took me to the hospital, Wellington Clinic. Then after that we now signed,” he said.

According to Ezekiel, he was given money in dollars shortly before the operation and handed the money to Ode as he was about to enter the theatre.

He said that after the operation, Ode told him he was going to change the money and subsequently bought two phones, two power banks and two Wi-Fi devices.

“He bought two phones, two power banks, two wifis. Everything he bought two, gave me one and held one, Ezekiel said.

Ezekiel said he spent almost a week at the hospital before leaving with Ode, who allegedly took him to a hotel for another two days.

He said Ode later took him to Cross River State, where they stayed for almost three months.

According to him, when he eventually demanded his money, Ode claimed that it had been spent and that they lacked transport fare to return to Abuja.

Ezekiel further alleged that Ode collected and sold his phone to raise money for transportation.

The Nigerian Police said it had identified and arrested several suspects allegedly connected to the kidney harvesting.

The suspects were identified as Emmanuel Ode, 23; Dr Benjamin Oyime, 48, a nephrologist and consultant to Wellington Hospital; Dr Daniel Otukpa, 53, also a nephrologist and Acting Director of Clinical Services at Wellington Hospital; and David Idoko, 25.

According to the police, Ode confessed during interrogation to recruiting victims under false pretences.

The police alleged that on April 24, 2026, Ode lured Ezekiel to Wellington Hospital in Life Camp, Abuja, where his kidney was allegedly harvested for $1,250, said to be equivalent to about ₦1.7 million at the prevailing exchange rate cited by the police.

The police also said another victim alleged that he was similarly lured by the same agent in 2022 and had his kidney harvested at a hospital, for which he was allegedly paid ₦7 million.

The police further alleged that the syndicate targeted vulnerable and poorly educated young people in Nasarawa State and neighbouring areas, exploiting their financial difficulties to obtain consent for illegal organ harvesting.

Investigators reportedly found evidence suggesting that official documents were allegedly falsified to facilitate the organ harvesting operations.

According to the police, the documents included victims’ names, National Identification Numbers, birth certificates, age declarations, affidavits and consent letters.

The development has raised fresh concerns about alleged illegal organ trafficking and harvesting activities in the Federal Capital Territory and surrounding states.

Wellington Clinic had not officially responded to the allegations concerning the alleged involvement of its staff in organ harvesting and human trafficking as of the time of publication.

Attempts to contact the hospital through its publicly listed telephone number were reportedly unsuccessful.

Wellington Clinics, established in 2011, is a private specialist hospital located in the Dape district of Life Camp, Abuja.

The hospital’s website says it provides medical and surgical services to children, adolescents and adults, with special focus on neurology, neurological and spinal surgery, alongside other medical specialties.

The latest allegations come amid previous cases involving suspected illegal organ harvesting in Abuja.

In 2024, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) arraigned Abuja-based medical practitioner Dr Christopher Otabor and three others before the High Court in Zuba, Abuja, over alleged kidney harvesting.

The latest investigation has again drawn attention to the vulnerability of economically disadvantaged young people to organ trafficking and the need for stronger monitoring of medical facilities and transplant-related procedures.

The allegations against the suspects remain subject to investigation and due legal process.