Wellington Clinics, Abuja, has denied any involvement in alleged organ trafficking linked to the case of kidney donor Abubakar Hassan, which has attracted public attention.
Dr Charles Ugwuanyi, Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of the hospital, denied the allegations in an interview with reporters on Saturday in Abuja.
Ugwuanyi said the organ transplant case at Wellington Clinic was connected to Crown Medical and Kidney Transplant Services, led by Dr Benjamin Oyimeh. The hospital had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the service before operations began.
“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 attract other independent specialties to use its facilities on a rent-per-use basis under a loose MoU relationship.
“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.
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 appropriate medical environment under a pre-agreed facility-rental arrangement.
He added that the specialist team led by Oyimeh was responsible for donor recruitment, clinical evaluation, donor-recipient compatibility, informed consent, ethical screening and other clinical and medico-legal requirements.
Ugwuanyi further stated that there was no breach of the MoU signed by both parties.
According to him, in the case of Abubakar Hassan, both parties complied with the provisions of the National Health Act 2014.
He admitted that Hassan’s operation was performed at the hospital and that all required documents, including a court affidavit of consent, were provided by the donor before the procedure began.
He noted, however, that the matter is currently under investigation.
Ugwuanyi recalled that Nigeria had inaugurated standards and guidelines for establishing and coordinating organ/tissue transplantation services to regulate transplant practices, enforce the National Health Act 2014, and prevent 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.
Ugwuanyi also outlined hospital certification requirements, noting that the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee (NTHISC) maps, audits and certifies approved health facilities allowed to perform transplants.
He provided details of the national registry, explaining 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.
It was reported that Abubakar Hassan, identified in Wellington Clinics’ records as the kidney donor, underwent a left donor nephrectomy at the Abuja facility on 24 April 2026 in a procedure led by Dr Benjamin Oyimeh.
The circumstances surrounding his identity and the legality of the donation remain under investigation.
