THE MERCHANTS OF HUMAN PARTS

All stakeholders should do more to contain the scourge

The latest, and most heinous, dimension to human trafficking in Nigeria is that there are merchants who invest in harvesting human organs which have become a lucrative enterprise. With so many people in need of kidney, liver, and heart transplants, records reveal that these organs are in high demand, especially in developed countries. 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 government, and the international partners in order to successfully tackle this most heinous menace.

Last weekend, a hotel and private mortuary were sealed by the authorities in Imo State after discovering decomposed and mutilated corpses in unhygienic conditions, raising suspicions of illegal organ-harvesting activities. “A hotel and a private mortuary owned by the suspect, allegedly used by kidnappers and violent criminals, were inspected,” according to the State Police Command spokesman, DSP Okoye Henry. “Following these discoveries, both the hotel and mortuary were sealed on the directive of the State Government. The suspect’s residence was also searched, and crucial exhibits were recovered.”

Due to the prevailing economic situation in the country, ritual killing mostly for money is becoming rampant among young people. Many students of tertiary institutions are now involved in these killings called ‘Yahoo Plus’.  Even though the belief lacks common sense, perpetrators indulge in these bestial acts for the purpose of making “instant wealth” or what some have aptly dubbed “blood money”. The murderers, sometimes called headhunters, go to any extent in search of body parts, particularly the head and sexual organs, for money-making rituals. And they are all over the country. Indeed, incidents of ritual killings are said to account for a large number of missing people in the country.

Meanwhile, it is difficult to prove that these sacrifices, done at the instruction of some crafty traditional medicine practitioners and witch doctors, can actually catapult people from penury into instant wealth. But that is the superstition driving the orgy of violence to get these assorted body parts. At least, for now, there is no single person that can be named to have become rich because of human sacrifices, except the characters in some Nollywood movies. So, to that extent, ritual killing remains largely a crime driven by ignorance and poverty.

What is, however, clear is that this is a law-and-order failure. Indeed, the increasing cases of abduction and killing of many innocent men, women and children is a poignant reminder that the police and the other security agencies have not sent a forceful message on what awaits the perpetrators of such heinous crime. The largely indifferent treatment to those caught has more or less encouraged the commitment of more crime. This is an issue that the relevant authorities have to deal with very quickly. There is also an urgent need for enlightenment campaigns to put a lie to the erroneous belief that money can grow out of the body parts of murdered people. It is time we put an end to these barbaric killings.

Critical stakeholders can no longer continue to watch from the sidelines while unscrupulous people classify fellow human beings as commodities and benefit from their ignorance, desperation and, sometimes, greed.  Beyond mere lamentation, we must all pull resources together to effectively tackle the human trafficking scourge and its allied crime of organ trafficking.