Dr Torngee Malu, a consultant plastic surgeon, called for kidney donors and doctors involved in legitimate transplant procedures to be protected from public vilification as the Nigeria Police Force investigates an alleged organ-harvesting and human-trafficking syndicate in Nasarawa State.
Malu made the appeal during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, days after police paraded four suspects, including two nephrologists linked to Wellington Hospital in Abuja, over allegations surrounding the removal of kidneys from vulnerable people.
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The suspects are Emmanuel Ode, 23; Dr Benjamin Oyime, 48, a nephrologist and consultant to Wellington Hospital, Life Camp, Abuja; Dr Daniel Otukpa, 53, a nephrologist and the hospital’s Acting Director of Clinical Services; and David Idoko, 25.
The Nigeria Police Force said the four were arrested by operatives of the Special Tactical Squad during a sting operation on August 19 at Auta Balifi in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Police said the operation followed intelligence concerning an alleged organ-harvesting and human-trafficking network.
Malu, however, urged caution in interpreting the investigation, arguing that the existence of allegations should not automatically cast suspicion over every kidney donation or transplant carried out in Nigeria.
“I think that these people should be celebrated and not victimised. Both the people who had the heart to donate a kidney and those who carried out the procedure, they should be celebrated,” Malu said.
He described organ donors as people who could make an extraordinary contribution to another person’s survival and argued that Nigeria should build stronger systems for legitimate donation rather than allowing fear to discourage people from participating in regulated transplant programmes.
“As far as I’m concerned, they are heroes because they have brought something that is new to Nigeria,” he said.
His comments come against a backdrop of serious allegations by the police.
According to the Force, Emmanuel Ode allegedly admitted recruiting victims under false pretences.
Police alleged that on April 24, 2026, Samuel Ezekiel, 22, was taken to Wellington Hospital in Life Camp, Abuja, where his kidney was allegedly removed after a payment of $1,250, said to be about ₦1.7 million at the time.
Police also said another alleged victim told investigators that Ode had lured him to a hospital in 2022, where his kidney was allegedly removed, with the victim reportedly receiving ₦7 million.
The allegations remain subject to investigation, and the arrests do not by themselves establish criminal liability against the doctors or the other suspects.
That distinction is central to the debate. Nigerian law does recognise organ transplantation and provides a framework for donation, but it does not treat the human organ market as an ordinary commercial activity.
The National Health Act 2014 requires informed consent for the removal of tissue from a living person and restricts transplantation services to duly authorised hospitals and qualified medical practitioners.
The law also prohibits the commercialisation of human organs, with offences attached to unlawful trading or financial rewards connected to donations.
Legal scholarship has similarly identified informed consent, regulation of transplant facilities and the prevention of commercialisation as important safeguards in Nigeria’s organ-donation framework.
Researchers have also noted shortcomings and areas of uncertainty within the existing legal system.
Malu said the case should therefore be examined through medical records, consent procedures and professional standards rather than social-media narratives.
He criticised what he described as “social media mob action”, arguing that allegations involving complex medical procedures require careful investigation before medical professionals are publicly condemned.
“I think that’s mob action, and I’m glad that Channels is giving me this opportunity to explain that the medical world is very different from what people actually see outside,” he said.
Malu further argued that the procedures under discussion involved adults and, based on the information he had heard, individuals who had consented to the operations.
He said the doctors involved had indicated that affidavits and consent documentation were obtained.
The position contrasts sharply with the police account, which alleges that vulnerable young people were recruited through deception and that financial hardship was exploited to facilitate kidney removal.
Police said their investigation was continuing and that other people allegedly connected to the network could still be identified.
The case has consequently opened a wider conversation about the difference between voluntary organ donation and organ trafficking.
A legitimate transplant depends not merely on a patient signing a document, but on whether consent was genuinely informed and voluntary, whether the facility was authorised, whether appropriate medical safeguards were followed and whether any prohibited financial inducement or exploitation occurred.
That distinction is particularly significant in Nigeria, where kidney failure and access to transplantation remain major healthcare concerns.
Malu argued that the country should encourage regulated transplantation while simultaneously strengthening oversight to prevent abuse.
The National Health Act provides that a donor may revoke a donation before the relevant organ is transplanted, reflecting the importance attached to voluntary participation in the donation process.
For the police investigation, the crucial questions will therefore extend beyond whether kidneys were removed.
Investigators will need to establish how donors were recruited, what they were told, whether consent was genuinely informed, whether payments were made, who authorised the procedures and whether all medical and legal requirements were followed.
For the medical community, the episode also carries a delicate message.
Strong enforcement against trafficking is necessary, but indiscriminate suspicion could undermine public confidence in legitimate transplantation and discourage people from becoming voluntary donors.
As investigations continue, the competing accounts underline the need for evidence rather than assumptions.
The outcome of the police inquiry and any subsequent legal proceedings will ultimately determine whether the allegations can be substantiated.
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For now, the debate has moved beyond the four suspects to a broader question about how Nigeria can protect vulnerable people from exploitation while ensuring that those who voluntarily donate organs, and the medical professionals who lawfully perform transplants, are not treated as criminals simply because the procedure itself is unfamiliar to the public.
Maryam Idris is a reporter and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
