Atiku warns cost of living crisis is driving youths to sell kidneys

Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over reports that young Nigerians are selling their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7m, describing the development as a disturbing consequence of the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

In a statement on Friday, Atiku said economic hardship had reached a point where some young people were considering extreme measures to survive.

“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,” he said.

The ADC presidential candidate said young Nigerians should be using their creativity and talent to improve their lives rather than being exposed to organ trafficking.

“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” Atiku said.

“When the cost-of-living crisis becomes unbearable, desperation begins to make the unthinkable appear like an option. That should offend the conscience of every Nigerian.”

He blamed the rising costs of food, transport, rent, education, healthcare and electricity on the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“In Tinubu’s Nigeria, almost everything required to live with dignity is becoming more expensive by the day: food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity,” he said.

Atiku said the reported sale of kidneys for ₦1.7m went beyond ordinary economic hardship and reflected the depth of desperation among young Nigerians.

“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,” he said.

The former vice-president acknowledged that Nigeria had laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and trafficking but argued that enforcement alone would not address the poverty that made vulnerable people targets for criminal networks.

“Laws alone cannot cure the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people easy prey for criminal networks,” he said.

Atiku called for economic reforms that would produce immediate improvements in people’s living conditions.

“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation,” he said.

Reports of alleged kidney sales have emerged amid a police investigation into a suspected organ-trafficking operation involving four people, including two nephrologists.