Organ ‘harvesters’ on the prowl in Benue

A devastating trend involving a series of corpses with missing body parts in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has raised concerns among residents of the Food Basket of the Nation, suggesting that organ harvesters are lurking around the city. Our correspondent reports that early this year, a female corpse was found on a refuse dump […]

A devastating trend involving a series of corpses with missing body parts in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has raised concerns among residents of the Food Basket of the Nation, suggesting that organ harvesters are lurking around the city.

Our correspondent reports that early this year, a female corpse was found on a refuse dump around Iorapuu Adai Street at Nyiman Hudco Quarters of Makurdi metropolis.

The woman, whose identity remains unknown, was wrapped in hotel bed-sheets, her legs tied and body stuffed into a nylon sack and dumped at the refuse site. There were claims that several of her organs were removed.

Residents had described the scene as a nightmare turned real, while other onlookers expressed outrage as they rained curses on the perpetrators of the act, but none of them could identify the dead young woman. They appealed to security operatives to unravel the mystery behind the killing.

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Shortly after that, another female body was discovered beneath the old dual railway road bridge with her private parts missing.

SP Catherine Anene, the spokeswoman of the police in Benue confirmed the incident, while assuring the public that investigations were ongoing.

Weekend Trust reports that the above incidents are just a tip of the iceberg as more cases have emerged, injecting heightened fear in the state capital.

A few days ago, a non-governmental organisation known as 24 Hours Road Accident Victims Support Initiative (TRAVSI) in Benue State, raised the alarm over the discovery of a new method being used by criminal elements to harvest body parts from unsuspecting victims.

The founder and chief executive officer of TRAVSI, Gaddafi Asemanya, raised the alarm during the maiden stakeholders’ town hall meeting in Makurdi, organised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state.

He said the criminal elements were in the habit of using flashy cars to hit unsuspecting road users who were either walking or riding on motorbikes along the roads, and under the pretext of conveying the victims to hospitals for medical attention, would divert them to undisclosed locations, where they would harvest their body parts and in the end, dump their bodies elsewhere.

Asemanya cited recent cases involving mostly women and saying the victims were 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”.

He added, “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 also recounted how his team rescued a young woman, who, out of bravery jumped down from a 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 called on security agencies to beam their searchlight on the growing threat in order to save the lives of innocent people across the country.

Responding, the Assistant Zonal Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), RS4HQ, Yusuf Haruna Mcilt, warned people around accident scenes to be vigilant and to stop unknown persons from conveying victims to hospital.

Mcilt added that more awareness would be created with the correct emergency number to call for FRSC intervention wherever or whenever an accident occurs. He stressed that corps on duty would always take accident victims to the nearest known or government-owned hospitals rather than unknown medical centres.