Abuja Hospital Denies Involvement In Alleged Organ Trafficking

Wellington Clinics, Abuja, has denied any involvement in alleged transactional organ harvesting involving a kidney donor, Mr Abubakar Hassan, saying the donor nephrectomy was performed at its facility under the supervision of a licensed senior consultant nephrologist.

The clinic, in a statement signed by its Director of Administration, Mr Yemi Olatunbosun, and made available to journalists on Tuesday, said it was cooperating fully with relevant investigative authorities probing the circumstances surrounding the kidney transplant.

The statement followed media reports alleging irregularities surrounding the kidney donation and transplant involving Hassan.

Wellington Clinics, however, stated that the donor’s identity had become a subject of investigation, alleging that his real name was Samuel Ezekiel and that he had deposed to an affidavit before the FCT High Court in which he changed his identity to Abubakar Hassan.

The clinic said the Nigeria Police Force was investigating the matter and would make its findings public.

According to the hospital, Hassan was admitted on April 24, 2026, as a scheduled kidney donor after the required procedures had been observed. He subsequently underwent a left donor nephrectomy the same day.

It said the procedure was performed by a specialist team led by Dr Benjamin Friday Oyimeh, a Senior Consultant Nephrologist and Chief Executive Officer of Crown Medical and Kidney Centre.

Olatunbosun explained that Wellington Clinics’ role was limited to providing an equipped operating theatre and a conducive environment for the procedure under a pre-agreed facility rental arrangement.

He said that under the clinic’s collaboration model with specialist medical teams, the lead consultant retained responsibility for patient recruitment, clinical evaluation, donor-recipient compatibility assessment, informed consent, ethical screening and other clinical and medico-legal matters.

According to the statement, the consultant and his team were responsible for all aspects of the donor’s and recipient’s care, including compliance with the National Health Act 2014 and relevant guidelines of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

The hospital said Hassan presented several documents upon admission, including a court affidavit, digital National Identification Number (NIN) slip, birth certificate issued by the National Population Commission (NPC), affidavit of consent and statutory declaration of age.

It added that Hassan was accompanied by a man identified as Abubakar Isa, whom he presented as his brother.

Olatunbosun said the hospital’s records showed that the donor was admitted under the name Abubakar Hassan, with a date of birth of February 4, 2000, and hospital number WCA/8066/2026.

He said the donor was discharged on April 28, four days after the procedure, and was subsequently readmitted on July 11 for wound management and removal of residual stitches. He was discharged on July 13.

According to the hospital, the donor had explained that he had travelled and was therefore unable to attend some earlier scheduled follow-up appointments.

Wellington Clinics said the kidney removed from the donor was immediately transplanted into a patient suffering from end-stage kidney failure.

It stressed, however, that neither the donor nor the recipient died as a result of the procedure.

The clinic also denied participating in, facilitating, negotiating or benefiting from any alleged financial transaction relating to the transplant.

“Wellington Clinics did not participate, facilitate, negotiate, or benefit from any transactional arrangements,” the statement said, adding that the facility relied on the documents and attestations presented by the donor and the medical team.

The management maintained that it had no independent means, or legal duty, to conduct forensic investigations into the relationship between a donor and recipient beyond the identification documents and declarations presented to the hospital.

It said there was no indication at the time of admission that the documents submitted were false or that the donor had misrepresented his identity.

“Since the records department of Wellington relied on the above documents submitted on admission, as per the current level of practice, we were not aware or suspicious of any misrepresentation or manipulation of identity at the time,” the clinic stated.

The hospital further said it was unaware of any financial or other transactional relationship involving the nephrology team, the donor or any other person connected to the case.

It said the donor was recorded in its records simply as a consenting adult donor.

Following the emergence of the allegations, Wellington Clinics said it immediately suspended all renal transplant-related services pending the outcome of investigations.

The facility reiterated its commitment to ethical and evidence-based healthcare, pledging to continue cooperating with relevant investigative and regulatory authorities.

Wellington Clinics also said it would abide by the outcome of the ongoing investigations.

The hospital explained that its model of practice was designed to enable specialist teams to provide highly specialised medical services while ensuring that consultants responsible for such services remained accountable for their clinical and ethical decisions.

It said its primary responsibility was to provide infrastructure, equipment and an enabling environment for safe patient care in line with acceptable international standards.

Wellington Clinics therefore urged the relevant authorities to consider the records and documents submitted by the hospital as part of their investigations, saying the materials could help clarify its role in the kidney transplant case.