FORMER Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has raised concern over reports of young Nigerians allegedly selling their organs to survive amid the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
In a post on his official X handle on Friday, Atiku described reports of young people selling body parts, particularly kidneys, as “disturbing” and “horrifying.”
“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive. 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,” he said.
Atiku said young Nigerians should be focused on building careers, businesses and innovation rather than being driven to desperate measures.
“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs. Yet 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 stated.
He lamented that essential needs were becoming increasingly unaffordable, listing food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity among areas where costs were rising.
According to him, there were reports of some young Nigerians selling their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million.
“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” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate noted that while Nigeria had laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking, legislation alone could not address the poverty driving such acts.
“No government should celebrate ‘reforms’ while young Nigerians are being reduced to selling parts of themselves to eat, pay rent, settle school fees or survive,” he said.
Atiku called for economic policies that directly address affordability and the welfare of Nigerians.
“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible health-care, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation,” he stated.