Wellington Clinics, Abuja, has denied any involvement in alleged organ trafficking in connection with the case involving a kidney donor, Abubakar Hassan, which is currently generating public attention.

Charles Ugwuanyi, the chief executive officer and medical director of the hospital, denied the allegations in an interview with journalists  on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Ugwuanyi said the case surrounding organ transplantation at Wellington Clinic was in connection with Crown Medical and Kidney Transplant Services, led by Benjamin Oyimeh, with whom the hospital signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) before the commencement of the services.

“Wellington Clinic is primarily a multispecialty hospital with core competence in Brain Surgery, Spine Surgery and Intensive/Critical Care Services.

“The high-end equipment base and enabled surgical safety environment attracts other independent specialties to use her facilities on rent per use basis in a loose relationship of MoU.

“This is the case with Crown Medical and Kidney Transplant Services led by Dr Benjamin Oyimeh, a Senior Consultant Nephrologist and Chief Officer of Crown Medical and Kidney Centre,” he said.

Mr Ugwuanyi also denied that Wellington participated in, facilitated, negotiated or benefited from any financial transaction involving the donor and recipient.

He said the hospital’s role was limited to providing an equipped operating theatre and an appropriate medical environment under a pre-agreed facility-rental arrangement.

He added that the specialist team led by Mr Oyimeh was responsible for donor recruitment, clinical evaluation, donor-recipient compatibility, informed consent, ethical screening and other clinical and medico-legal requirements.

Mr Ugwuanyi also said there was no breach of the agreement in the MoU signed by both parties.

According to him, in the case of Abubakar Hassan, the donor, both parties complied with the provisions of the National Health Act 2014.

He admitted that Mr Hassan’s operation was performed at the hospital and that all documents required before the operation began were made available by the donor, including a court affidavit of consent.

He, however, said that the matter was currently under investigation.

Mr Ugwuanyi recalled that Nigeria inaugurated the Standards and Guidelines for Establishing and Coordinating Organ/Tissue Transplantation Services in Nigeria to regulate transplant practices, enforce the National Health Act 2014, and stop illegal organ trafficking and commercialisation.

“Key principles of the guidelines include, no organ sales, commercialising human organs is strictly banned. All donations must be acts of free will without financial reward.

“Informed consent, donors must give clear voluntary consent without coercion, force, or exploitation of vulnerable and low income groups.

“Scope, the rules cover kidney, liver, bone marrow/stem cell, cornea, gamete/embryo storage and surrogacy,” he said.

Mr Ugwuanyi also outlined hospital certification in the statement, where the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC) maps, audits, and certifies approved health facilities allowed to perform transplants.

He also gave national registry details, stating that a centralised organ donation and transplantation registry and banking system tracks procedures, donor safety, and patient outcomes.

On donor protection, he said facilities must ensure long-term medical and psychological follow-up care to protect donors from post-surgical harm.

Mr Hassan, identified in Wellington Clinics’ records as the kidney donor, underwent a left donor nephrectomy at the Abuja facility on April 24, 2026, in a procedure led by Mr Oyimeh.

The circumstances surrounding his identity and the legality of the donation are currently under investigation. 

(NAN)