Pulse Nigeria is the most followed news and entertainment platform, informing and engaging young Nigerians round the clock, providing updates by the hour.

Pulse Nigeria

The UK journalist said he was shocked to learn what Nigerians are willing to do for money.

Nigerian DJ sold his kidney in Egypt to buy second-hand laptop - UK journalist | Pulse Nigeria

Nurudeen Shotayo

<h2>Mark Lobel, a freelance journalist from the United Kingdom, has narrated how an unnamed Nigerian disc jockey sold his organ in Egypt to raise money to upgrade his laptop.</h2>

Lobel, a former BBC Nigeria correspondent, disclosed this in a documentary on Nigerian former lawmaker Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

The documentary, titled 'How Sen Ekweremadu was arrested in London for organ harvesting' and produced by a Nigerian seasoned journalist Chude Jideonwo, revealed some background details of <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/from-arrest-to-sentencing-ekweremadus-tortuous-journey-to-prison/7qe3khs">events leading to the Ekweremadus ordeal</a>.

Recall that the former Deputy Senate President, alongside his wife, Beatrice and a medical doctor, Obinna Obetta, was sentenced in the UK last year for organ trafficking involving a Nigerian male victim.

The <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/modern-slavery-act-senator-ekweremadu-bags-9-years-in-uk-prison-makes-history/2p8v4tb">trio were found guilty</a> of conspiring to arrange the travel of the 21-year-old young man to exploit him for his body part, his kidney to be precise.

Senator Ike Ekweremadu and David Nwamini Ukpo

<h3>UK journalist shocked by Nigerian experience</h3>

Following their sentencing, which reverberated around the UK as the convicts were the <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/ekweremadu-is-first-african-to-be-jailed-under-uks-modern-slavery-act/hhzr1t7">first Africans to be nailed</a> under the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act, Lobe decided to dig deeper into the story and journeyed down to Nigeria to extract first-hand information.

However, the freelance journalist unearthed some shocking revelations which exposed the <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/metro/2-teenagers-under-investigation-for-selling-their-organs-to-doctor/6nkwjng">desperation of some Nigerians</a> and the risks they put themselves through in their quest to make money.

"I was shocked by what I found in Nigeria and shocked by how the country has changed over the past ten years. And I was shocked by what some people were prepared to do for their kidneys, particularly one person I met there," he said.

<h3>UK journalist shocked by organ trade by Nigerians</h3>

Lobe recalled his interaction with a computer merchant in Nigeria, whose customer had travelled to Egypt to sell his kidney to raise money to better his life.

"We actually met the gentleman who owned the computer store and he was selling second-hand computers and someone had come up to him to explain that the money that he was going to give him for a laptop so that he could become a DJ and stop the manual work that he was doing, had come from the fact that he had sold his kidney.

"He had gone on an organised trip to Egypt to sell his kidney, and he was going to use that money to get himself a better life. But the risks he had been taking to do that and the aftercare that he needed, and it sounded like he wasn't getting, was shocking," he stated.

ALSO READ: <a data-link-role-code="open_new_tab" href="https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/i-feel-guilty-for-my-parents-conviction-ekweremadus-daughter-speaks-out/prs66hf">I feel guilty for my parents conviction - Ekweremadu's daughter speaks out</a>

The freelance journalist said he was concerned about the health of the 'organ trader' who required an expensive and complicated aftercare but seemed not to have the means to access it.

"One of the things that struck me was the man who ran the shop said this guy came to him and he did not look well and you know one fears that the aftercare, which is very expensive and it's very complicated wouldn't be happening. Where would he have got the money for the aftercare? Who would have been looking after him?

"If the operation had taken place in Egypt, why would he have come back and got help in Nigeria? So many questions. It's illegal for a reason," Lobe added.

Nigerian DJ sold his kidney in Egypt to buy second-hand laptop - UK journalist

Pulse Picks

Business

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Politics

Local

Metro

World

News 

Celebrities

Music

Movies

Fashion

Beauty & Health

Relationships & Weddings

Food & Travel

Domestic

International 

Sports 

Celebrity Picks

Pulse Marketing

Explore categories

Influencer Awards

Company Pages

Breaking News & Top Stories | Pulse Nigeria

Video

Checkout our authors for the latest content across entertainment, sports, business and more. Be first to receive exclusive updates with your free subscription straight to your phone | Pulse Nigeria 

Authors | Pulse Nigeria

| Pulse Nigeria

Read the latest news across entertainment, sports, business and more. Be first to receive exclusive updates with your free subscription straight to your phone | Pulse Nigeria

Search for the latest content across entertainment, sports, business and more. Be first to receive exclusive updates with your free subscription straight to your phone | Pulse Nigeria

Search Results | Pulse Nigeria

Watch the latest videos across entertainment, sports, business and more. Be first to receive exclusive updates with your free subscription straight to your phone | Pulse Nigeria