Mariam Adebukola 
A 20-year-old man identified as Aondoaseer Agbadu has been arrested by the Benue State Police Command and arraigned at the Magistrate Court on Thursday over conspiracy in organ harvesting.
Agbadu and others were reported to have deceived a 17-year-old, Terungwa Swati to Abuja, where one of his kidneys was harvested without his consent or that of his parents.
The case came to public attention when Alexander Swati, a resident residing opposite the Benue Internal Revenue Service office in Aliade, reported a serious incident to the police on August 27th.
Subsequently, the case was transferred from the Divisional Police Headquarters in Aliade to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Makurdi, as per a letter dated August 30, with reference number AR:3100/BNS/AL/VOL.4/258.
As explained by Inspector Godwin Ato, the police prosecutor, the sequence of events began around April 2023. During that time, Agbadu, who lives across from Union Bank in Aliade, purportedly collaborated with unidentified individuals.
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They deceived and transported Terungwa Swati, the 17-year-old son of Alexander Swati, to Abuja.
During their stay in Abuja, the prosecution claimed that they performed a surgical procedure on Terungwa without his or his father’s consent, extracting one of his kidneys, and subsequently selling it to another individual.
As the police investigation into this alarming incident progressed, Agbadu was apprehended and presented before the court to answer to the charges.
Inspector Ato cited that the accused had violated Sections 27 and 20 (1) (2) and (3) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015.
The Magistrate presiding over the case, Mr. Taribo Atta, has adjourned the proceedings until October 23, 2023, for further mention.
This delay allows additional time for the ongoing investigation and legal processes to unfold.
