A 24 Hours Road Accident Victims Support Initiative (TRAVSI) in Benue State has raised the alarm that criminals are harvesting body parts from unsuspecting victims.
The founder and chief executive officer of TRAVSI, Gaddafi Asemanya, revealed this at the maiden stakeholders’ town hall meeting in Makurdi, organised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state.
Asemanya said the criminal elements use flashy cars to hit unsuspecting road users either walking or riding on motorbikes along the roads, and under the guise of helping the victims to hospitals for medical attention, would divert to undisclosed locations, and harvest their body parts and later dump their bodies elsewhere.
Asemanya said there have been cases involving mostly women brought into Makurdi from Abuja or conveyed from the road between Makurdi and Abuja, adding that in some instances, the victims were kidnapped.
He said, “We have uncovered a new method used by criminal elements to target their victims and harvest their sensitive organs. These criminal elements would stage an accident by hitting young men who are either riding on bike or walking on foot, and under the pretence that they are taking them to hospital to access medical care, will divert them to an undisclosed place, where they will harvest their sensitive organs.
“Their victims are mostly women. After harvesting these organs from their hotels or hideouts, they will dispose the bodies under the bridge or any dumpsite. The latest one was dumped in Achusa village of Makurdi Local Government Area with the blanket of a hotel. Another one was dumped at a stream in Welfare Quarters, while another young girl whose legs were broken while her body parts were harvested was also seen in another part of Makurdi. Her body showed that a vehicle hit her on the leg. The TRAVSI drew the attention of security agencies to it.
“Another of such case involved one Godwin Obite, who was kidnapped in Abuja by organ harvesters and brought to Makurdi. We rescued him and he spent 51 days in the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) before he was discharged.
“He was lucky to have been discarded by his kidnappers after they sighted a security presence in Makurdi at the eve of the #endbadgovernance protest, which frightened them into abandoning their plan. Initially left to die, Obite spent nearly 20 days in the hospital before regaining consciousness”.
“During the intervention, TRAVSI secured a court order to access his account details, then traced his family to Abuja. We were able to reunite him with his brother, a retired army officer in Abuja, who had raised him from a young age.”
Apart from Obite, Asemanya explained that victims also included those offered free ride by the roadside. He expressed worry that victims did not live to tell their stories, adding that their relatives might still looking for them.
He said his team rescued a young woman, who, out of bravery jumped out of a moving vehicle after realising that she had been trapped by suspected organ harvesters.
The TRAVSI team rushed her to a hospital, where she received treatment before she was safely returned to her home in Yelewata, a rural town in Benue near the Nasarawa State border, along the Makurdi-Lafia road.
Asemanya said, “She was drugged from Yaman Park in Makurdi by some persons who put substances in her drink. Luckily, she was a bit conscious at the time they bundled her into a waiting vehicle, and while in motion, she gathered strength to jump out of the vehicle after sensing a mischief.
“It was about 2am that I was called for the rescue operation and we took her to hospital, rehabilitated her after treatment before releasing her to reunite with her family in Yelewata community.”
The TRAVSI founder urged security agencies to after the criminals to save the lives of innocent people across the country.
The spokesperson of the police in Benue, SP Catherine Anene, confirmed a recent incident of organ harvesting involving a woman, saying investigations were ongoing.
