Alleged organ harvesting syndicates operating between Abuja and Nasarawa State have been accused of using false affidavits to rewrite the identities of young men recruited into their network. According to victims’ accounts and police investigators, sworn affidavits deposed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, were used to alter the identities of the young men, including their names, National Identification Numbers, and other personal details.
Police investigators say the syndicate followed a consistent pattern, where young men were recruited, persuaded to alter their identities through sworn affidavits, and then taken for surgery. One of the alleged victims, 22-year-old Samuel Ezekiel, said the process began with a trip to court, where he was made to sign an affidavit. He was then taken to a hospital, where he signed another document and was given money in dollars.
The police have identified two medical doctors as alleged syndicate figures. Emmanuel Odi is named by Ezekiel as the agent who recruited him, while another alleged victim, Zulkifilu Abdulkadiri, names a relative as the person who lured him to Mararaba.
A representative of the hospital said its involvement was limited to providing facilities and that the paperwork presented to it appeared regular on its face. The hospital’s ethical committee vetted the papers submitted by the visiting consultant’s team, and since the documents were coming from a doctor and a lawyer, the hospital thought they were authentic.
Beyond the affidavits, police say the suspects relied on a wider body of falsified documentation, including forged consent letters, forged birth certificates, and cloned National Identification Numbers. The squad says the operation is far from over and that it is widening its dragnet to identify other syndicates. The Nigeria Police Force has not officially released the name of the lawyer or lawyers who prepared the documentation.
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Advocates argue that such networks depend on a supporting cast of compliant legal practitioners, commissioners for oaths, and hospital administrative staff who process paperwork that allows the parties to sidestep the statutory prohibition on commercial dealings in human organs. Several statutes are engaged on the facts alleged, including the National Health Act 2014 and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015. They govern the removal of tissue and organs from living persons, require informed consent, and prohibit commercial dealings in human organs, with penal consequences for contravention.
The case raises concerns about whether the police will pursue the drafting lawyers with the same vigour as the medical suspects, since the offence of procuring a false affidavit is complete on the facts alleged and does not depend on proving the surgery.
Until the identity of the practitioner or practitioners involved is established and tested, the case stands as a warning about how easily the machinery of the courts can be turned into cover for what it is designed to expose. The alleged syndicate’s use of false affidavits to rewrite identities has significant implications for the legal profession and the protection of human rights, particularly in cases involving trauma and mental health.
The National Health Act 2014 and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 are key statutes in this case. They provide a framework for understanding the legal implications of the alleged syndicate’s activities.
