In a desperate chase for quick cash and status, some university students in Akwa Ibom are selling parts of themselves, ranging from sperm, blood and eggs at IVF centres. Driven by fierce campus competition and false hopes of easy wealth, they gamble with their futures, unaware of the heavy toll ahead: broken bodies, shattered dreams, and lives haunted by regret.In this report , INIOBONG EKPONTA writes that, today’s fast money could leave them tomorrow wandering from church to prayer house, seeking deliverance from choices that may have cost them everything.
The biting hardships pervading many poor homes have undoubtedly put serious pressure on youths, but a deeper, more troubling reality lurks beneath the surface. Checks by LEADERSHIP Weekend at several higher institutions in Akwa Ibom State reveal that it is not just poverty driving students into desperate measures, as some decent and financially stable students are also caught in this dangerous web.
At the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), town campus, along Ikpa Road, students openly lament how socio-economic challenges are impacting their education, yet the quest for quick wealth and status is pushing many beyond the limits of morality and self-preservation.
This trend is less about mere survival and more about the toxic culture of competition, peer pressure, and distorted values that have seeped into campus life. While hardship plays a role, it cannot be the sole excuse for choices that risk lives and futures. The harsh truth is that some students, even those who are not the poorest, are willingly selling their bodies and dignity, trading parts of themselves at IVF centres , in a reckless gamble driven by greed and desperation to “keep up” or get ahead.
This is a dangerous spiral that threatens to destroy the very foundation of youth potential in Akwa Ibom and beyond.
Fielding questions from our correspondent, one student, Eno Uffot, lamented,
“I nearly abandoned my programme last session because I couldn’t afford to register my courses. My parents are retired and depend on their meager monthly stipends.”
He added, “It was only by the grace of God that a councillor representing my ward in Oruk Anam local government area stepped in to help me with one session’s school fees.”
However, upon further investigation, our correspondent discovered that many students, along with other youths, resort to sharp practices including cultism, armed robbery, and other violent crimes to survive the harsh realities they face.
Other calm, gentle, and secretive students, according to sources at Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), Ikot Akpaden campus in Mkpat Enin LGA, run rings of internet fraudsters, popularly known as “Yahoo boys.” Meanwhile, others engage in selling what they refer to as “body resources”, including sperm, blood, and eggs , which are in high demand at In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres.
A 300-level Biochemistry student at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) explained, “It’s an easy way to make money in just a few sessions and walk away, rather than risk engaging in armed robbery, kidnapping, internet fraud, or other scams where you could be caught and face the law.”
Another student involved in the practice added, “We use the proceeds to pay for rent, school fees, settle some courses, and cover other personal expenses.”
A senior nursing officer at Ikot Ekpene LGA General Hospital noted that the heavy patronage of IVF centres by childless couples and single women desperate to have children before menopause is driving the growing demand across the state.
“The high volume of clients has led several medical consultants to operate IVF centres as private businesses within their clinics, even while working for government institutions at both state and federal levels,” the officer explained.
Similarly, a senior medic at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) who pleaded not to be named disclosed, “Some of my colleagues run these centres to supplement their meager government salaries with additional income.”
The senior medic blamed many sharp practices and other unwholesome acts by medical professionals on what he called the “poor reward system for medical workers in Akwa Ibom.”
“We have baby factories across the hinterlands of the state, where nurses, midwives, and other workers collude to operate theatres where young girls are groomed and artificially inseminated with sperm and eggs bought specifically from young men and incubated.
“Some are impregnated directly by young boys, who may be thrilled by the offer of free sex from human trafficking syndicates, which pay them after impregnating the girls.
“The victims, mostly young girls, are carefully carried through the gestational period until they deliver the babies and are paid off, while the babies are traded to those in need. We have captured many of them, prosecuted the perpetrators, and handed the victims over to NAPTIP for family reunification,” a senior police operative explained.
“But are those indulging in trading vital resources from their bodies aware of the long-term consequences beyond the quick cash? He added.
Aside from being offensive to the natural birth process, Christendom has expressed deep concern that the youth, who make up the most active segment of the population remain unaware of the harm this practice inflicts on their bodies, which could seriously hinder their personal development.
While Professor Idongesit Patrick Solomon, a specialist in Animal Reproductive Physiology at UNIUYO, views the practice as a legitimate solution to fertility challenges in both humans and animals, Catholic clergy strongly oppose it. They urge childless couples to consider adoption rather than resorting to artificial methods of parenthood.
During the recent Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Ikot Ekpene LGA, church leaders voiced serious concerns over the growing trend of youths donating blood, sperm, and eggs to desperate patrons eager to become parents, regardless of the origins of the children.
In many government and private hospitals, the sale of blood by less-privileged youths has become a common survival tactic amid harsh economic conditions, presenting itself as a seemingly legal way out of hardship.
More alarmingly, a senior medical consultant, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that the practice of selling blood, sperm, and eggs has become widespread among young people, particularly university students, raising urgent ethical and health concerns.
Many young people resort to selling vital resources from their bodies because times are truly tough. Some students cannot pay their school fees because they have lost their parents, while others rely on retired relatives or single mothers struggling without steady jobs or stable income.
“But what we discovered in some cases is shocking, yet, in a way, fortunate for them,” said a medical professional. “Many come here believing that because they look healthy, their bodies are fine. But when we screened their blood, we found that most were unaware of their actual health status, having never undergone regular health checks or tests. Alarmingly, many were found to be infected with various ailments, including HIV/AIDS, while others showed symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).”
“So, what we do in such cases is set these individuals aside for counseling and advise them to undergo antiretroviral treatment, which is available for free,” explained a senior nursing officer who runs a private clinic in Uyo.
He added that, “Many break down emotionally at first, but we counsel them that these ailments no longer mean a death sentence, provided they strictly adhere to the medication regimen.”
On the other hand, the Catholic leadership has raised alarms about the unchecked abuse of IVF treatments in Nigeria. Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji called on the federal government to urgently regulate fertility clinics to protect citizens from exploitation and serious health risks, highlighting that this practice is widespread across the country.
The Archbishop emphasised the dangers posed by the proliferation of fertility clinicsmany of which are run by unqualified and unlicensed practitioners,nresulting in financial exploitation, severe medical complications, permanent infertility, and, in some cases, death. “This situation urgently calls for government regulation and the enforcement of ethical guidelines,” Archbishop Ugorji stressed.
He lamented the moral implications of IVF practices, particularly what he described as “the commodification of human life,” lamenting that; “even University students now sell their eggs and sperm to fertility centres in exchange for money,” maintaining that the trend the Church views as morally unacceptable.
“It is important to draw attention to the teaching of the Church, which considers IVF greatly immoral,” he noted, explaining that “apart from its separation of the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act, the Church insists that each human being and each human embryo has an inherent dignity and right to life.
“Any practice that commodifies or disposes of embryos, or uses them for experimentation, is gravely wrong. Such quick way to cash can create perpetual childlessness and other health complications in their future life,” he warned.
He therefore, reiterated the Catholic Church’s stance against IVF, and urged government and other concerned authorities to put in place stricter oversight mechanisms to check unethical practices and protect the dignity of human life.
“God created man in His own image”, he noted, wondering how mother and child affinity would tally in the midst of differential genes matched together for binding emotions to suffice under strange compound forceful welded as a family force.
Also critical of the booming trade, the NMA chairman in the State, Dr. Aniekan Peter, admitted the unwholesome practices have become the order of the day, but warned that such illegalities are intolerable in the system.
“There’s a law in place against such practices. Donations of human resources whether blood, sperm and egg should be voluntary and not traded off for cash,” he explained.
He, therefore, warned of drastic consequences for those engaging in such illicit practices, urging a rethink rethink as laws against such practices would be activated to publish offenders.
LEADERSHIP Weekend warns that this rampant exploitation of vulnerable youths by some unscrupulous medical personnel is a betrayal of the very oath sworn to protect and heal. By preying on desperate students and young people, often unaware of the long-term health consequences, these practitioners not only endanger lives but also fuel a dangerous cycle of abuse and exploitation.
This reprehensible behaviour demands urgent condemnation and decisive action from regulatory bodies and government authorities.
Medical professionals must be reminded that their role is to safeguard health and dignity, not to capitalize on hardship for personal gain. The time has come for strict oversight, harsh penalties for offenders, and comprehensive education to protect these young minds from being reduced to mere sources of bodily commodities.
If left unchecked, this exploitation will continue to haunt the futures of countless youths, turning hopes of a better life into tragic tales of pain, regret, and broken dreams. The government, health regulators, and society at large must rise now to stem this tide before more lives are irreparably damaged.
