A disturbing new method used by criminals to harvest body parts from unsuspecting victims has been uncovered in Benue State, according to the 24 Hours Road Accident Victims Support Initiative (TRAVSI).
The non-governmental organisation raised the alarm during a stakeholders’ town hall meeting organised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Makurdi.
Gaddafi Asemenya, founder and CEO of TRAVSI, revealed that criminals are using flashy vehicles to intentionally hit pedestrians or motorbike riders.
Under the guise of transporting the injured victims to hospitals for medical care, these criminals instead divert them to undisclosed locations where their organs were harvested, leaving the victims’ bodies abandoned, Asemenya said.
He cited several recent cases, particularly involving women, where victims were brought into Makurdi from Abuja or abducted along the Makurdi-Abuja route.
He highlighted one such case in Achusa village, Makurdi, where a victim’s body was found wrapped in a hotel blanket after organ harvesting.
Another case involved a young girl whose legs were broken before her organs were taken, and her body was discarded in Makurdi’s Welfare Quarters.
Asemenya also shared the case of Godwin Obite, a man kidnapped by organ harvesters in Abuja and transported to Makurdi.
Fortunately, he was rescued after the criminals, spooked by the presence of security forces during the #EndBadGovernance protests, abandoned him.
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Asemenya urged security agencies to intensify their efforts to combat the growing threat, particularly to protect the lives of young people across the country.
In response, FRSC Assistant Corps Marshal Yusuf Haruna Mcilt warned the public to be cautious at accident scenes and not allow unknown individuals to transport victims to hospitals.
He emphasised the importance of contacting the proper emergency services and noted that FRSC officers always transported victims to known or government hospitals.
