Nigerians who claim to have been tricked into
selling their kidneys in Indian hospitals have
shared horrific tales of their ordeal. In this
exclusive sit down with Punch , Martin said he
was tricked into selling one of his kidneys for just
$7,500 (N1.2m) in 2008
Martins said he had only one reason why he
was willing to sell one of his kidneys for that
amount: financial independence.
He'd 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 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.
Continue...
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.”
Culled from Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment