Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised alarm over reports that young Nigerians are being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million, describing the development as a disturbing consequence of the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
In a statement on Friday, Atiku said worsening economic conditions were pushing some young Nigerians to consider extreme measures simply to survive.
“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive,” he said. “Perhaps the most horrifying are the growing reports of young people selling parts of their bodies: kidneys in particular, in desperate attempts to raise money.”
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said young Nigerians should be using their talents and creativity to build better lives rather than being driven to sell their organs.
“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” he said.
“When the cost-of-living crisis becomes unbearable, desperation begins to make the unthinkable appear like an option. That should offend the conscience of every Nigerian.”
He blamed the rising cost of food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity on the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“In Tinubu’s Nigeria, almost everything required to live with dignity is becoming more expensive by the day: food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity,” Atiku said.
He said reports of young Nigerians selling their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million reflected a level of economic desperation that went beyond ordinary hardship.
“Yet young Nigerians are reportedly being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million. That should break the heart of a nation,” he said.
“When young Nigerians begin to see their kidneys as emergency savings, we are no longer talking about ordinary economic hardship. We are talking about desperation at its most frightening.”
Atiku acknowledged that Nigeria has laws prohibiting the commercial sale of human organs and organ trafficking, but said enforcement alone would not address the poverty and vulnerability that leave young people exposed to exploitation.
“Laws alone cannot cure the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people easy prey for criminal networks,” he said.
He called for economic reforms focused on improving the immediate living conditions of Nigerians, including access to affordable food, transportation, healthcare and decent employment.
“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation,” Atiku said.
“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for ₦1.7 million just to survive at home.”
“This is the human cost of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis.”
The comments come amid reports of alleged kidney sales and a recent police investigation into an alleged organ-harvesting and human-trafficking operation involving four suspects, including two nephrologists.
