Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has blamed the desperation of young Nigerians to sell their kidneys on President Bola Tinubu’s harsh economic policies.

It could be recalled that the police last week raided a hospital in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, after it was reported that at least 10 young men were victims of organ harvesting.

Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has now accused President Bola Tinubu of making life more expensive for Nigerians, saying he would make the country affordable again if given the opportunity.

In a post on his X handle on Friday, Atiku expressed concern over reports of young Nigerians allegedly selling their kidneys and other body organs in desperate attempts to survive the country’s worsening economic hardship.

He said young Nigerians should be pursuing their dreams, building careers and developing innovative ideas rather than considering the sale of their body organs as a means of survival.

“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.

“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” Atiku wrote.

He added that the rising cost of food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity had worsened the living conditions of many Nigerians.

According to him, reports that some young Nigerians were being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million reflected the level of desperation caused by the cost-of-living crisis.

Atiku said Nigeria’s laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking were insufficient to address the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people targets of criminal networks.

He stressed that economic reforms should improve the living conditions of citizens by making basic necessities more affordable.

“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation.

“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for N1.7 million just to survive at home,” he said.

Atiku described the situation as the human cost of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, accusing the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic burden on Nigerians.

He further stated that “Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”

Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has declared that he is ready to lose his life while protecting his votes in the 2027 election.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Thursday, Obi charged Nigerians to prevent a repeat of the “irregularities” witnessed during the 2023 general election.

In 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to upload election results electronically due to the alleged failure of IReV.

Critics had accused the commission of hiding under the alleged failure of IReV to rig the election against the opposition.

Obi, who ran under Labour Party, and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who was candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had rejected the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as winner of the election and headed to the court.

But Tinubu’s election victory was upheld by the court.

Speaking at the event tagged: “Obi Talks Nigeria”, the NDC Presidential Candidate said those plotting to manipulate the election would fail in their mission.

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He urged his supporters to go all out and exercise their franchise on election day, saying no one would intimidate them or prevent their votes from counting.

“Nobody will intimidate us again at the polling booth. If you get to any polling booth today, the highest number of officials you see is five. The average number of voters is 40 to 50. There is no way five people will intimidate 50 people.”

“This time all of us will rescue our country. Somebody said, ‘We are ready to die.’ Let me tell you, I’m ready to die too.

“We will make sure we have coordination to ensure that such intimidation does not arise. Yes, they will try to manipulate the IReV. But let me tell you, it will not be easy this time,” he said.

“There will be so many IReVs this time. If there is a network glitch, we will give them another one that has no glitch,” he said.

“By allowing them to continue, that glitch will glitch our lives. That is what we are suffering today,” Obi said.

On his part, NDC Vice Presidential Candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, appealed to voters to avoid past mistakes of not choosing competent leaders with the capacity to address the country’s challenges.

He said despite the number of states that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) currently controls, the party will still lose the next election.

“I believe that Nigerians must not make mistakes again. This is the time to get it right. And anything to the contrary, I believe people, if they make a mistake, certainly people will regret making that mistake. Because it will be too costly for the people and the country.”

“Jonathan was the president, the sitting president lost the election. I’ve given you an example, especially those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That was a very big mistake,” he said. (Daily Trust)

About 37 persons have reportedly died after inhaling fumes from a petroleum product at a jetty in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The incident occurred on Thursday at the Okari Jetty in the Okrika Mainland area, where youths from Okrika and neighbouring communities had reportedly gathered to load a petroleum product from an illegal tapping point.

Many others were said to be missing following the incident, which occurred in the mainly coastal community.

A source in the community told our reporter that more than 100 persons had stormed the jetty with locally made boats while a vessel was anchored at the riverside to load petroleum products.

The source said trouble started while the youths were loading the product, as a strong smell suddenly saturated the air, causing several of them to collapse.

“Many of them collapsed into the river, while others who managed to escape the scene had serious respiratory disorders and were being treated at the hospital.

“As I speak to you, over 37 bodies were identified as Okrika people, while six others were yet to be identified and many are still missing,” the source, who pleaded anonymity, said.

The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre also confirmed the incident, saying its network of youth volunteers and human rights defenders in the Niger Delta had reported that no fewer than 37 persons suspected of involvement in illegal oil activities died after inhaling what was locally referred to as “Indorama fuel.”

The Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, said in a statement that the incident occurred at about midnight on Thursday at the Okari Jetty.

“According to the report, no fewer than 37 persons suspected to be oil thieves died after inhaling what is locally called ‘Indorama Fuel.’

“Many others are still missing. The incident occurred during the illegal loading of the product into a ship at a tapping point,” he said.

Dumnamene said the victims had connected a pipe to a tapping point on a pipeline that transported petroleum products from the Indorama Eleme Petrochemical through the Port Harcourt Refinery to vessels that reportedly came every two weeks to load products for export.

He added that the youths inhaled the product while a vessel was loading and they were simultaneously loading it into their waiting boats from the illegal tapping point.

“This led to the death of not fewer than 37 persons. Many are still missing, and some corpses have been seen floating on the river but have not yet been recovered,” he stated.

Dumnamene called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency to immediately conduct a joint investigation visit to the site of the incident.

He also urged the company that owned the vandalised facilities to provide adequate security for its pipelines to prevent a recurrence.

The YEAC-Nigeria boss condemned the alleged sabotage, warning youths to stay away from oil and gas infrastructure because of the dangers associated with high-pressure pipelines.

He also called for alternative livelihood opportunities for youths in the Niger Delta, including the establishment of modular refineries and the legalisation of artisanal refining.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Blessing Agabe, confirmed the incident and said the victims were reportedly attempting to steal crude oil.

Agabe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said no official complaint had been lodged with the command but added that an investigation had commenced.

“The suspects reportedly died in the process of attempting to steal crude oil. However, no official complaint has been received in connection with the incident at this time.

“Investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and ascertain the facts,” the police spokesperson stated.

However, the Commander of the Civilian JTF in Okrika LGA, Igwe Godswill, gave a different account of the incident, saying the victims had gone to scoop petroleum products that had spilled into the river when they were allegedly overwhelmed by fumes from a vessel loading products at the jetty.

Godswill described the incident as tragic, saying most of the victims were youths searching for means of livelihood amid a lack of employment opportunities.

“It is so pathetic that this incident is happening in our community. These are young guys who have gone to search for their daily bread, only for the fumes from the fuel that was pumped to kill so many of our youths under the bridge.

“Many of them were choked to death. These are not criminals or anything, but they went out in search of their daily meal. I am advising the community, the leaders and every other person that we need legitimate jobs in the community.

“These things are risky, but when you cannot feed your children, most times, those risky jobs become the only option,” Godswill stated.

He explained that the victims had gone to scoop petroleum products floating on the water when they were overcome by fumes from a vessel loading petroleum products at the jetty.

Godswill, however, said about 10 bodies had been recovered, adding that only some of the victims could be identified because of the condition of their remains.

He said, “We saw about 10 of them. Four were still unrecognisable, while four persons were identified. The rest could not be identified because their bodies were badly damaged and their faces were severely affected.”

The Civilian JTF commander called on the Rivers State Government, community leaders and other relevant authorities to create employment opportunities for youths in the area to discourage them from engaging in dangerous activities.

“I am calling on the relevant authorities, community leaders, the chairman and every other person to look into this. It is not enough to stop them because, yes, it is a risky job, but they should create jobs for the youths so that everybody will have something to eat.

“Something that can put food on the tables of these young men, the youths and every other person. I can tell you for free that it will not just stop because when that source is the only livelihood, people will still go there.

“Even as of yesterday, people still went there, despite the fact that we had confirmed that people had died from the same activity. So, we are calling on the leaders to look into it and see how they can create job opportunities, especially for the youths,” Godswill added. (PUNCH)