Organ Harvesting: Police Move Against Perpetrators In Imo

The nefarious trade of organ harvesting  in Imo State, initiated by criminals and persons of questionable characters and individuals engrossed with tendencies of get-rich quick syndrome, have risen to a dangerous dimension.

The activities of these elements have snow balled into  feverish heights, thereby generating uneasy calm and   consumed innocent citizens, the poor and less privileged in the society.

The organ harvesting trade wears the toga of the rich, as the poor, down trodden masses, cannot afford the technicalities and network involved in this illicit trade that has generated  tension to the unsuspecting vulnerable citizenry.

The nefarious activities of organ harvesters in the state, which was carried out discreetly in  the past, came into limelight  in 1996,  when what was tagged as Otokoto saga manifested its ugly head.

The incident revealed the dark days of the state, when the syndicates involved in the trade took over the environment, thereby sending fear and precipitation to the people.

Otokoto is a name that  transcends uncertainty and anxiety  down the spines of Imo citizens,  as this represents  series of ritual killings that enveloped the city in  1996.

The Otokoto Hotel, owned by one Chief Vincent Duru, was then at the epicenter of these  suspected organ harvesting and murder across the state and its vicinity.

The celebrated  case  kicked off in 1996, when  11 year-old boy, master Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, a groundnut hawker was lured into the hotel and brutally murdered.

His head was severed, and body parts were removed for ritual purposes.

The police investigation then,  uncovered twenty four bodies buried around the hotel premises, revealing network of ritual killings  in the state. It is instructive to note that since then, issues of organ harvesting have resurfaced on a larger scale.

The public outcry that greeted the Otokoto debacle was revealing and  encompassing, leading to the infamous Otokoto riots, where angry mobs destroyed properties linked to the suspects, including the hotel.

The state government, in conjunction with police obviously aware of the ugly incidents of the past, where organ harvesting took the centre stage embarked on measures to sanitize the system by taking drastic measures against these hoodlums.

The  police command  destroyed Jessy Best Hotel and Ugwudi Cottage Hospital mortuary services all situated on the Owerri – Aba Road in the Ngor Okpala local government area of the state.

Also demolished were two  houses, a bungalow and duplex with large compounds and a smaller apartment in the Ngor community in the Ngor Okpala community said to be a shrine where fetish articles were discovered and burnt by the enforcement teams.

However, unclaimed corpses were evacuated from the mortuary to another morgue before it was demolished by the state government.

Speaking with journalists at the scene before the commencement of the demolition exercise, the  Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, disclosed that the order to demolish the properties was issued by the governor, Hope Uzodimma.

The CP stressed that the owner of the properties, Stanley Oparaugo, popularly known as Morocco, has been declared wanted by the command, following his refusal to honour several police invitations.

The Commissioner for Health in the state, Chioma Egu, said that the essence of the demolition of the mortuary as directed by the governor was to prevent further health and security crisis in the state.

Egu said that apart from that the facility was not registered and licensed to operate, the discoveries made by the ministry showed that most vital organs from the deposited corpses were missing.

The chairman of Ngor Okpala council area, Chika Ibekwe, said that the people of the area were grateful to the state governor for being courageous in fighting insecurity in the vicinity.

The Health Commissioner, Chioma Egu, revealed that 21 corpses were evacuated from the morgue and will be interred,  if not claimed swiftly.

An Owerri based businesswoman, Mrs. Ifunanya Okeke, praised the administration for listening to public concerns and acting decisively. She said the crackdown showed that “human life still has value in Imo State.”

Lending his voice, Comrade Emeka Nwankwo, a civil society advocate, commended the security agencies and the governor for what he called “a rare display of political will,” adding that the operation would discourage criminal networks across the state and southeast zone.