Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has decried reports of young Nigerians resorting to selling their kidneys amid worsening economic hardship in the country.
In a post on X on Thursday, Atiku said he had 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 wrote. “Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs. Yet 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."
Atiku linked the trend to rising living costs under the current 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. Yet young Nigerians are reportedly being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million. That should break the heart of a nation.”
He added: “Young Nigerians should be building careers, starting businesses, raising families and pursuing their dreams, not calculating how much parts of their bodies can fetch simply to stay alive. 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.”
Atiku acknowledged that Nigeria has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and trafficking but stressed that legislation alone cannot address the underlying poverty and desperation that make vulnerable youths targets for criminal networks.
He called for economic reforms with “a human face,” including measures to make food, transport, healthcare and jobs more affordable.
He concluded: “Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”