Unknown to Mrs Kahinde Busari and her family, she had been moving about in the last 5 years with one kidney. She is married to Mr Kamal Busari, a Jos based businessman and a resident of Rikkos area of Jos North local government area. The union is blessed with four children.
Prior to the surgery that led to the harvest of her right kidney by Dr. Noah Kekere of Murna Clinic and Maternity Hospital, Mrs Busari has never gone under a surgical knife before. Her 4 kids were all delivered through natural childbirth; not one single cesarean operation was performed on her.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed that Dr Kekere has no license to practice as a medical doctor or a nurse. It was also gathered that he read Economics from Ambrose Ali University. Curiously, he has allegedly performed so many surgeries to remove fibroids, appendicitis, kidneys, among others.
How My Wife’s Kidney Was Harvested – Kamal
Speaking on the development, the victim’s husband, Kamal, said, “In 2018, an appendectomy was scheduled for my wife, Kahinde, when it was discovered that she had appendicitis. On the day fixed to conduct the surgery, the operation on her lasted for over 8 hours to my utmost dismay, but I am not a medical doctor, so I had little or no suspicion or worries. She was eventually discharged from Murna Clinic and maternity by Dr Kekere.
“Six months after she was discharged, she started having pains around the right side of her belly, as well as weakness of the body. She went back to the same Dr Kekere at the clinic where she had her surgery. After checking her he gave her drugs to relieve the pain. But the pains kept coming on and off, while Dr Kekere was giving her pain killer drugs for temporal relief. It became so severe and excruciating as the years went by.
In 2023, we decided to seek an alternative cure, since the private clinic she was attending was unable to find a lasting cure to the pains she has been having.
“We went to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) for a proper and better medical checkup. On Monday September 4, 2023, a scan was conducted on her to ascertain what could have been responsible for the persistent pains around that area. When the Scan result came out, we were shocked when the doctor at JUTH who was attending to her asked her if she was aware that an organ had been removed from her body.
“She said she was not aware. The doctor now informed her that her Kidney on the right side of her belly is missing. This is the same side Dr Noah Kekere claimed he removed appendicitis. She burst into tears, as she wondered how it could be true when she has never undergone any surgery before, not even during childbirth. My wife called immediately to inform me of the development.
“I went straight to the police at Nasarawa Gwom Police division to get some officers to arrest Dr Noah Kekere at Murna Clinic and Maternity Hospital, Jos. Again, when the scan result was presented to Dr Noah, he interpreted it but denied being responsible for harvesting my wife’s kidney.
“But to clear all doubts, another CT scan was recommended and done on my wife on the 5th of September 2023. When the result came out, it was indeed confirmed that her right kidney was harvested. Dr Kekere eventually admitted he harvested my wife’s kidney, but is now blaming the devil for his action.”
Kamal appealed to relevant authorities to ensure justice for the family. According to him, since the past 8 day he has not been able to eat nor sleep at night.
“I am calling on the authorities to do everything within the ambit of the law so that justice is served so that it will serve as a deterrent to others who may want to perpetrate this heinous act,” he said.
Attempt To Bribe The Police And Victim’s Husb and
The traumatised Kamal, Kahinde’s husband, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that he was offered millions of naira to close the case. He commended the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Nasarawa Gwom, SP Timothy Bebissa, for standing by the truth and resisting all attempts to bribe him to look the other way.
According to Kamal, when the suspected kidney harvester was arrested, all efforts made to bribe him and the DPO were unsuccessful. He noted that he was asked to mention any amount he wanted for the case to be closed.
He said, “I have never seen a sincere police officer like the DPO of Nasarawa Gwom Division. He stood for the truth and rejected the money. He deserves to be commended. I was also offered bribe to the tune of millions of naira at the detriment of my wife. I told them that I will not collect the money to close this case. I believe that we still have good police officers.”
Police Launch Investigation
LEADERSHIP-weekend reports that the Plateau State Police Command launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to the harvest of Kahinde’s kidney.
The Command’s spokesman, DSP Alfred Alabo, confirmed the arrest of a medical doctor for alleged organ harvesting carried out in his hospital in Jos, the Plateau State capital, following a complaint lodged by the husband of the victim. According to him, the investigation led to the arrest of Dr Kekere who conducted the surgery on the woman without her knowledge or consent.
“The suspect (doctor) has been arrested and is currently in detention. Investigation is ongoing with a view to determine his culpability before charging him to court.”
Plateau NMA Disowns Doctor Arrested For Organ Harvesting
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Plateau State, chapter has also distanced itself from Noah Kekere who is still in police custody.
The association’s chairman, Dr Bapigaan William Audu, and the Public Relations Officer, Dr Istifanus Bintum Bako, in a statement jointly signed and made available to our correspondent, said investigation into the matter revealed that Kekere is not a medical doctor .
“This is to inform the general public and all concerned that Mr Noah Kekere, who is currently being investigated over allegations of organ harvesting, is not a medical doctor or a member of our association.”
The duo pointed out that diligent investigation by the association revealed that he is a quack posing as a doctor, adding that further information will be made available after the investigative processes initiated by the NMA as well as the Nigerian Police respectively.
They also called on their members and citizens of the state to remain calm as the association is on top of the matter and is assisting the police to get to the root of the matter.
In his reaction, the national president, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCON),
Prof Mohammed Aminu Mohammed, a Professor of Surgery, said they heard about the alleged organ harvest story on social media.
According to him, if it is the kidney that was said to have been harvested, there are also some investigations that need to be conducted to confirm the present or absence of the kidney that was alleged to have been removed.
He said, “When you do that and you confirm that, then that is the first line of evidence that can be used to prosecute the so-called person”.
Prof Aminu argued that sometimes they decline to comment on such issues, especially when the person involved is not their member.
“MDCON is an association of consultant specialist doctors. First, if they are to comment they will allow their mother association, which is Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to comment on it. If it has to do with their member, they will launch an investigation to find out if it is true that the doctor breached the ethics of the medical profession”, he stated.
On raiding the society of quacks, the MDCON national president further said there is a regulatory body, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, which is responsible for getting rid of quacks.
“This specialist service is also regulated by the West Africa College of Surgeon. These are the arms that certify people who specialize in carrying out this responsibility of transplant and other highly skilled medical activities.
“In a situation where quacks have been identified, if he is a member of NMA, the person is sent to MDCON tribunal and if he is not a member of NMA the person is referred to the regular court for adjudication. Our role is to present or probably help in apprehending the person and hand him over to the law enforcement agencies which have the responsibility to prosecute the person”.
Suspect Goes Berserk In Police Cell
Kekere who was detained at the state police command reportedly went berserk, faking to be a lunatic while in police cell.
According to a source from the Police headquarters, the suspected kidney harvester was taken to the hospital when he started tearing his clothes in the cell and started behaving like a lunatic.
The source further said, “This made the police rush him to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) in handcuffs and he was admitted to the psychiatric unit of the hospital.”
It was further gathered that on arrival, he was screaming, yelling and shouting, saying “they want to silence my daughter,” while mobile police officers have taken over the Psychiatric unit of the hospital.
CSOs Call For Thorough Probe
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Plateau State have called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Convener of the CSOs, Steve Aluko, said the development shows that the supervisory body, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), has not been able to perform its role as expected.
“They ought to have detected this quack doctor before now. The ministry of Health and the state government have also failed in its regulatory function to regulate the medical practice in the state and the establishment of private hospitals without necessary regulation and guidelines”.
He argued that it further showed clearly that it is possible that the security agencies were lagging in their responsibility of combing everywhere to prevent crimes of such gravity, adding that the civil society and the media too have not done well in terms of intelligence gathering and independent investigations to unearth such people impersonating, especially in the medical line.
Legal Breaches
Experts have described as a criminal offence with intent and purpose, and against the ethics and practice of medical science the act of someone harvesting somebody’s organ without his or her consent.
Similarly, at the moment, Nigeria has no regulatory agency guiding human organ harvesting. Against this background kidneys are often sourced illegally.
They urged the Nigerian government to provide a regulatory agency or department in the appropriate ministry to ensure that nobody harvests somebody’s kidney illegally without his or her consent.
Mrs Kahinde kidney harvest case is coming to public knowledge shortly after the conviction of Nigeria’s former deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu; his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, for attempted organ harvesting in UK.
Mrs Kahinde and her family were tricked by Noah Kekere, under the guise of removing appendicitis, to remove her kidney without the knowledge of the woman and her husband.
Indeed, many vulnerable children globally are said to have been forced, exploited and enticed to sell their kidneys for a fee.
