The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it arrested a suspect in connection with organ harvesting in Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking during the 2025 National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the State Zonal Coordinator of NAPTIP, Mr Emmanuel Awhen revealed that the agency also secured over 60 convictions with over 15 cases still pending determination in courts.
According to Saturday Telegraph,the state Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, in collaboration with NAPTIP and the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse, and Labour made this known at a press conference organised in the State.
Speaking at the event, the Zonal Coordinator noted that organ harvesting has become a booming trade in the state, and disclosed that some clinics and hospitals in the state are engaging in the organ harvesting business.
Awhen, who was represented by the Head of Public Enlightenment of the agency, Eme Ukpabio said, “We have had arrests, I cannot count, the arrest that we do, we bring them to the office and when we realise that most of these cases are not really human trafficking cases, we send them away.
“The ones that are arrested and put in our centres and charged to court are many. We have had over 60 convictions, between last year and this year we had over five convictions.
“The arrest we had on organ harvesting, the person involved is not an Akwa Ibomite.
So when we have such a case, we refer to the mother state where the suspect comes from.
“Our own is just do the job and do a referral to the command that covers the person’s state where justice will take its course.”