The Imo State Police Command has sealed an illegal mortuary and a hotel in Umuhu Autonomous Community, Ngor Okpala Local Council, over suspicions that the facilities were being used for organ harvesting.
State Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, said the buildings were discovered during an inspection and were allegedly being used to hold kidnapped victims before their organs were removed and transported to the mortuary.
Police identified the mortuary owner as Stanley Morocco Oparaugo, who is currently at large. Inside the mortuary, officers reportedly found decomposing and mutilated bodies in unsanitary conditions, raising concerns that illegal organ activities were ongoing.
The buying and selling of human organs is illegal under the National Health Act 2014, which prohibits any form of commercialization of organs or tissues. The law also requires that organ donation be voluntary, without financial inducement, and carried out only in licensed hospitals by qualified medical practitioners.
However, the law requires free and informed consent from the donor, which must be given without any form of coercion or financial inducement. Donors are often required to sign a consent form in the presence of witnesses and swear an affidavit to confirm the voluntary nature of their decision. It added that Organ transplant services must only be carried out in duly authorized and licensed hospitals by qualified and registered medical practitioners.
The police say investigations are ongoing as authorities continue to probe the extent of the operation.
What measures should the ministry of Health device to track down Hospitals and Mortuary involve in this crime?
#OrganTrafficking #ImoStatePoliceCommand #AfricanMediaCommConsulting
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