A High Court in Zuba, Abuja has adjourned until May 21 the trial of the Medical Director, Alliance Hospital, Dr Christopher Otabor, Emmanuel Olorunlaye, Chikaodili Ugochukwu and Dr Aremu Abayomi over alleged organ harvesting.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) charged the defendants alongside the Hospital with 11 counts bordering on organ harvesting.
Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya fixed the date and vacated the previously fixed date, following the prosecuting counsel, Hassan Tahir’s application for an adjournment.
“We would have closed our case today but the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) is ill and could not make it to court to tender all the necessary documents. We hereby apply for an adjournment, ” Tahir said.
The defence counsel, Afam Osigwe, SAN however applied for the court to shift the previous date of May 13 which was fixed at the inception of the matter to May 21 due to a planned trip.
Earlier, a witness, who sells mobile phones, Abdullahi Mohammed, was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel. Mohammed told the court that he has a shop in Mararaba, Nasarawa state.
"On February 20, 2023, a 16-year-old boy came to my shop to buy a phone for ₦290,000.
“I gave him my bank details to make payment and I received a ₦500,000 transfer.
“I asked him why he overpaid me and he gave me an Opay account to send the balance of ₦210,000 back and he left my shop,” the witness stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prosecution alleged that Olorunlaye procured two 16-year-old boys and a 25-year-old man, Aminu Yahuza for the removal of their kidneys at the said hospital located in Area 11, Garki, Abuja sometime in February 2023.
Tahir said that Ugochukwu, an Administrative Secretary at the hospital, assisted in the removal of the kidneys of the victims. The prosecution further alleged that Otabor accommodated the victims for the removal of their kidneys while Abayomi, a surgeon at the hospital, performed the operations.
The offence, he said contravened the provisions of sections 20(2)(a)(3) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015 and was punishable under the same section(2)(b).
The defendants however pleaded not guilty.