TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN ORGANS 

All critical stakeholders should do more to stem the menace

The latest, and most heinous, dimension to human trafficking in Nigeria is that it has gone beyond sexual exploitation. The traffickers now invest in the harvesting of human organs which has become a very lucrative enterprise. With so many people wanting to go for kidney, liver and heart transplants, records reveal that these organs are in high demand, especially in developed countries. Out of desperation, many Nigerians also now sell their vital organs and, in the process, endanger their lives. That some of our medical personnel are being incriminated in this crime against humanity is why the health authorities and critical stakeholders should be concerned.  

   A recent report by an organ of the United Nations on human trafficking rated Nigeria poorly in tackling the multi-dimensional crime. The trade in human organs and trafficking in human eggs and human embryos is multibillion dollar businesses, and it is no surprise that some Nigerians are increasingly enmeshed in it. And given the level of economic deprivation in the country, it is also no surprise that there are many willing customers. There is therefore a need for collaborative efforts by the relevant local agencies, state governments and the international partners if we are to successfully tackle this most heinous menace. 

 With increasing poverty, many Nigerians are being lured by traffickers into either slavery abroad or their death at home. There have been reports of how some Nigerian women are often administered with drugs that cause ovarian hyper stimulation to extract their eggs afterwards. There have also been instances where female undergraduates of some Nigerian universities sell their eggs to willing buyers.  The ever growing need to feed the IVF ‘factories’ with embryos has engendered the exploitation of young women for their eggs. 

There is also another dimension to the problem with some unscrupulous Nigerians now recruiting from villages young boys and girls with the promise of securing them good jobs when the real intention is to harvest their organs for sale. Therefore, a demonstration of political will to diligently prosecute offenders would serve as deterrent to those engaged in the nefarious trade,. That has been demonstrated in many countries where prominent people have been convicted for such crimes. 

 The sheer magnitude and sophistication of this human merchandising indicates that for any meaningful breakthrough to be achieved in the efforts to arrest it, collaborative attempts must be made by governments, non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies and even influential individuals. Critical stakeholders can no longer continue to watch from the sidelines while unscrupulous people classify fellow human beings as commodities and exploit their ignorance and desperation. 

 For years, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has been raising the alarm over the increase in organ harvesting in the country. A former Director General, Julie Okah-Donli once argued that some people were being allowed to get away with murder, following the rescue of a 10-month-old baby whose eyeballs were being gouged out. 

 All said, trafficking in human person and trafficking in human organs cannot be combated without the effective reform of the country’s criminal justice system. That explains why it is important for NAPTIP to partner with other organisations in tackling this threat. NAPTIP officials have always cited corruption and slow judicial process as the main obstacles in bringing human trafficking offenders to justice. But beyond mere lamentation, all the stakeholders must pull resources together to effectively tackle the human trafficking scourge and its allied crime of organ trafficking.