Atiku Raises Alarm Over Nigerians Selling Kidneys For ₦1.7 Million Under Tinubu Govt

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over young Nigerians selling their kidneys to survive.

Naija News reports that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) flag bearer shared his concerns in a post on 𝕏 on Thursday.

He lamented that the economic crisis in the country has pushed young Nigerians to drastic measures for survival.

Atiku blamed President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies for the situation, arguing that Nigerians ought to be selling ideas and innovation, not their body parts.

He said, “I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive. Perhaps the most horrifying are the growing reports of young people selling parts of their bodies: kidneys in particular, in desperate attempts to raise money.”

He insisted that the trend should “offend the conscience of every Nigerian.”

Atiku claimed that young Nigerians were reportedly being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million.

The former Vice President linked the trend to the rising cost of living under the Tinubu administration, listing food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity as items that have become increasingly unaffordable for ordinary Nigerians.

He said, “In Tinubu’s Nigeria, almost everything required to live with dignity is becoming more expensive by the day: food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity.

“Yet young Nigerians are reportedly being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as ₦1.7 million

“That should break the heart of a nation.

“Young Nigerians should be building careers, starting businesses, raising families and pursuing their dreams, not calculating how much parts of their bodies can fetch simply to stay alive.

“When young Nigerians begin to see their kidneys as emergency savings, we are no longer talking about ordinary economic hardship. We are talking about desperation at its most frightening.”

Atiku acknowledged that Nigeria already has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking, but argued that “laws alone cannot cure the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people easy prey for criminal networks.”

He called for economic reforms with “a human face,” including affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and “renewed hope for the next generation.”