Christopher Otabor, the Medical Director of Alliance Hospital, along with three others, have appeared in the FCT High Court in Zuba on Monday, on charges of alleged organ harvesting.
The three others are Emmanuel Olorunlaye, Chikaodili Ugochukwu, and Dr. Aremu Abayomi. They are to answer to 11 counts relating to organ harvesting.
Prosecuting lawyer Hassan Tahir, told the court that Olorunlaye arranged for two 17-year-old boys and a 25-year-old man named Aminu Yahuza to have their kidneys removed at the hospital in Area 11, Garki, Abuja, around February 2023.
Tahir claimed that Ugochukwu, an Administrative Secretary at the hospital, helped in taking out the kidneys of the victims at the hospital.
The prosecution also accused Otabor of providing accommodation for the victims at Alliance Hospital for their kidney removal procedures, and Abayomi, a surgeon at the hospital, was said to have carried out the operations.
He mentioned that the offense violated the laws outlined in sections 20(2)(a)(3) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, and is subject to punishment under the same section (2)(b).
The defendants Counsels Richard Adeboju and Afam Osigwe SAN applied for bail for their clients.
Presiding Judge Keziah Ogbonnaya granted the bail applications but instructed the defendants to sign a daily register at the NAPTIP headquarters, beginning on March 19, excluding the court hearing day.
She instructed the defendants to submit their travel documents to the court and cautioned them to obey this directive or face the possibility of their bail being removed.
The trial has been rescheduled for expedited review, now set from May 6 to May 9 with further proceedings on May 13.
