Atiku decries economic hardship driving youth to sell kidneys

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that young Nigerians are reportedly selling their kidneys to survive as living costs rise under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

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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.

In a post on X, Atiku said he had heard “disturbing stories” about young people selling body organs, particularly kidneys, in desperate attempts to raise money. He said young Nigerians should be “selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” and argued that the trend should “offend the conscience of every Nigerian.”

Atiku said young Nigerians were reportedly selling kidneys for as little as 1.7 million naira, although the figure was not attributed to a specific report or agency and could not be independently verified. He linked the alleged trend to the rising cost of food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity.

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Young Nigerians should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs.

Nigeria has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and trafficking, Atiku said, but he argued that laws alone could not address the poverty and desperation that leave vulnerable people exposed to criminal networks. He called for economic reforms focused on affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation.

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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.