THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 19th – Sunday 25th Oct. 2026
DEALERS IN HUMAN PARTS
Organ Trafficking in Nigeria: Exploiting the Poor and Violating Human Dignity
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
A disturbing video is circulating on WhatsApp, of three young men involved in organ harvesting. They gave their names as, Samuel, Emmanuel, and David. The name of Michael was mentioned as a facilitator of organ harvesting, but he did not appear in the video. These were young men of around 22 years of age. One of them sold his kidney for N7 million, while another collected N1.7m and released the organ. The facilitator with them collected $1,250 for his role. Sadly, they squandered the pittance that they were paid. The one who collected N7 million bought a motorcycle and rented a house while the person who received N1.7 million obtained mobile phone and frittered the remaining money. As of the time they were being interrogated, all the money had finished. They mentioned a hospital at the Life Camp in Abuja as the location for the organ harvesting.
In Nigeria, organ harvesting has become an issue of great concern, but its true scale remains unknown due to inadequate data on the subject. Unofficial sources claim that trafficking in organs is prevalent around Nasarawa State and Abuja. The hospital mentioned in the video by the young men has denied culpability and it is cooperating with the Police in the investigations. So far, no hospital has been indicted by the law enforcement authorities.
The human body is not a commodity to be bought and sold. Yet, there are criminal networks globally that exploit poor and vulnerable people to obtain their organs for transplantation. Nigeria is not immune to this crime. For Christians, this should not be merely an issue of crime and public health. It is a question of human dignity, justice, and our gospel responsibility to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Of course, in approaching this issue, it should be made clear that not all organ transplantation is evil. There are genuine medical cases required to save lives, in which the donor is considered a hero.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identifies trafficking in human organs as a complex crime requiring recruiters, medical expertise, surgical facilities, recipients and financial arrangements. Section 20 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015 criminalizes specified acts of recruiting, transporting or receiving people for organ removal through force, deception, coercion, abuse of vulnerability or prohibited payments. It also criminalises specified involvements in removing, buying or selling human organs. The law provides for imprisonment of at least seven years and a fine of at least ₦5 million for the offences specified in the section. The National Health Act 2014 regulates human tissue and organ transplantation and prohibits commercialization of human organs. Nigeria's Constitution also protects human dignity and personal liberty.
Several international protocols prohibit trafficking in human organs through the exploitation of vulnerable people. The UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol (2000) supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It recognizes organ removal as a purpose of human trafficking. Where the prescribed means — such as deception, coercion or abuse of vulnerability— are used, apparent consent does not negate the trafficking offence. Nigeria is a party to this Protocol. The World Health Organization's Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation emphasizes voluntary donation, informed consent, equitable allocation and protection against commercial exploitation. The Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism is another influential international ethical framework. It opposes exploitation in transplantation and calls for systems that protect donors and ensure equitable access to treatment. These protocols emphasize one ethical principle: the need to save one person's life cannot justify exploiting another person's poverty, vulnerability or lack of informed consent.
The most vulnerable groups that fall into the snare of organ harvesting are as follows:
• Poor and unemployed young adults, who may accept offers of money or employment out of desperation.
• People with limited education or access to reliable information, who may be deceived about the nature and consequences of surgery.
• Internally displaced people (IDPs), migrants and refugees, who may lack family support, secure accommodation or access to trustworthy advice.
• Children and people unable to give valid consent, who require special legal protection.
The recent Nigerian police investigation is consistent with this pattern: investigators alleged that recruiters targeted financially vulnerable young men in Nasarawa and neighboring areas. There is no evidence that one Nigerian religious or ethnic group is inherently more vulnerable than another. The central risk factors are exploitation, poverty, inadequate protection and unequal access to information and justice.
Organ trafficking is thriving in Nigeria due to mass poverty in the land. Predators have entered the country, and they are exploiting poor and desperate people to dispose vital body organs. The government has the primary responsibility of implementing local and international laws that prohibit the harvesting of human organs for commercial purposes. The enabling laws are in place, but the execution is usually the problem. The first step to combat this problem is for the government to eradicate poverty in the land. Poverty makes people vulnerable to exploitation.
While the government has the onerous responsibility of implementing laws, the Church, as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, is mandated by God to bring divine solutions to humanity. The Church as a divine institution exists primarily for the benefit of non-members. The Master says, "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45). When the Church stops paying attention to non-Christians and start focusing attention on itself, it starts losing relevance before God and man. Light is not needed where there is light. It is in darkness that light is useful.
At present, Christians pack all their lights in a building, while all around them, on the outside, the darkness is thick and ominous. Consequently, they get blinded by too much light in the place of worship. Instead of opening the doors and taking their lights into the darkness of drug addiction, prostitution, organ harvesting, cultism, LGBTQ+, ritual killings, corruption, and other vices that bedevil the human society, they shine the torch in each other’s eyes and they get blinded. Christians have become so blinded they no longer see the problems in their society. The Church must go bearing the light of God into the darkness of the world.
One of the challenges of the Church in this generation are those pastors who are determined to build large congregations instead of raising disciples that will take the light of the gospel to the nations, according to the command of the Master. The Church is meant to raise disciples, but the disciples are not required within the four walls of the Church building. They are required outside the premises of the place of worship, as lights in the darkness of the world, and as salt upon planet earth that is becoming rotten because of sin. Consequently, while there are multitudes who profess Christianity as religion, genuine disciples are few. The Church can help in the following ways:
1. Educate the congregation. Like the call in last week’s prayer bulletin on combating drug addiction, the Church should organize seminars and awareness programs on organ trafficking and the risks involved in unregulated medical procedures. If people are aware of the risks, they might be more determined to resist the financial inducements.
2. The Church should alleviate economic vulnerabilities by establishing vocational training centers and organizing small-business supports for the needy. Economic empowerment will reduce the desperation that traffickers exploit.
3. There should be a program of protecting the IDPs and other vulnerable young adults from predators. The IDPs should be sensitized to the dangers of organ harvesting.
4. The Church should establish strategic partnerships with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and other relevant bodies involved in the prevention of human trafficking. Each denomination can establish a department for this purpose. These departments would also handle cases requiring counselling as well as community awareness.
5. The Church should also demand accountability from the government. The Church should insist on the prosecution of all individuals and hospitals indicted in organ harvesting. Once people are aware that they can no longer engage in the nefarious trade without facing the consequences, they will begin to call themselves to order. The Church can advocate for stronger transplant oversight, effective investigations, transparent statistics and adequate support for victims.
Available evidence shows that trafficking for organ removal is a real crime with documented Nigerian connections. The 2026 investigation in Nasarawa and Abuja underscores the need for effective oversight, while international cases show that vulnerable Nigerians can also be exploited abroad. Yet the true national scale remains unknown. Human beings possess dignity that cannot be measured by wealth, social status or the commercial value of their organs. The poor, the displaced, the unemployed and the socially isolated are not people whose desperation should be exploited; they are people whose dignity and safety deserve protection. This is a call to build a society in which vulnerable people are protected, medical practice is accountable, justice is pursued and no human being is reduced to a commodity.
God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Ps. 12:1-2
Raise a lamentation to God against the evils in Nigeria. Condemn the evil of organ harvesting of vulnerable Nigerians.
2. Ps. 82:1-5
Pray that God shall arise to defend the weak and vulnerable people in Nigeria who are daily exploited, oppressed, and cheated.
3. Luke 10:19
Take authority over the forces of darkness that promote these evils in Nigeria. Bind and cast them out of the country.
4. Ps. 11:6
Execute judgment written in the word of God upon the satanic priests and priestesses who service satanic altars in the land and open portals for demons to infest the country.
5. Matt. 6:10
Pray that the government of the kingdom of God shall be established in Nigeria to provide justice, righteousness, and fairness.
6. Acts 10:38
Pray for divine conviction that should cause the Nigeria Church to return to doing good works, like Jesus.
7. Ps. 94:20-23
Pray for the coming transition of government in 2027, that evil people shall not rule over Nigeria again.
AMEN
