For how long will successive governments in Nigeria remain passive to the brutal treatments meted out to its citizens in Asian countries, particularly China? That is the question agitating the minds of many concerned citizens. It will be recalled that The Nation in 2014 reported the predicament of Nigerians in Asian countries, following which the 7th National Assembly vowed to visit China to talk its government into putting an end to the inhuman treatments meted out to Nigerians after no fewer than 25 Nigerians were said to have been cremated in the Asian country. However, the vow made by the lawmakers ended up being nothing more than a political statement. Today, emerging facts from the communist state point to the fact that the Chinese have moved from abusing the fundamental human rights of Nigerians seeking greener pastures in their land, to harvesting their vital organs for purposes that remain shrouded in controversy. Will the latest development spur the Nigerian government to take a decisive action? INNOCENT DURU explores the situation.
In the manner that butchers slaughter cows at abattoirs and keep choice parts aside for special reasons, the harvesting of the vital organs of Nigerians in various prisons in China is believed to have become a trend. The victims, it was learnt, are sedated with a special kind of injection and made to fall into deep sleep while their bellies are ripped open to have their vital organs extracted.
Our correspondent gathered that some Nigerian inmates have died in the process while others recover without realising the harm that had been done to them. Some of the China returnees who spoke with our correspondent said it was common to see such victims drop dead without falling sick.
The practice, referred to as neo-colonialism by experts in the field, it was learnt, has become a major headache for Nigerian prisoners in the Asian country. Findings showed that the ugly practice is part of the burgeoning business of trafficking in human organs between China and some collaborating nations.
The allegation is amplified by the research work published by investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann and other international media. Gutmann in his research titled The Slaughter, stated that contrary to China’s claim that the practice is illegal in the country, it is still removing the organs of its prisoners without consent, and that this is happening while detainees are still alive. Findings showed that the illegal trade in kidneys has risen to such a level that an estimated 10,000 nocturnal transactions involving human organs now take place annually.
The returnees who claimed to have personally witnessed the sordid practice while serving various jail terms in China said the scene is better imagined than experienced. One of them, who identified himself simply as Cruz, said he suffered serious mental challenges after watching the despicable act.
Recalling how some fellow inmates had their organs harvested in a Chinese prison, he said: “I witnessed how they ripped open the body of two fellow Nigerian inmates and removed their hearts and kidneys on two different occasions. It was gory and capable of destroying one’s mental state forever. They never cared that we were there because they knew that there was nothing we could do. We were at their mercy, and they would even callously tell you that nobody would hear you if you said anything, and even if anyone would listen, there would be no evidence to substantiate the allegation.
“They would inject them and make them sleep off. Thereafter, they would open them up and take whatever they wanted. Some of the victims died in the process while some others came back to life without realising the harm that had been done to them. It was common sight to see some of the victims who pulled through drop dead without previously falling sick,” he said.
Cruz noted that he too would have fallen victim to the horrendous practice but for a telephone call he made to his brother.
He said: “I too would have been a victim, but when I observed what they were doing, I quickly got in touch with a highly placed brother who is based in Switzerland. He flew down to China and met with some people at our embassy. When they saw that our embassy was particularly interested in my case, they left me out.
“Each time they beat us, they also reminded us that China is their fatherland and that they had the power to do whatever they liked to us. In 2015 alone, no fewer than 88 Nigerians died in various Chinese prisons. And the moment anybody dies, they would cremate him or her. Aside the gory sight in the prisons, which has left indelible scar in my memory, I also went through hell working in the various factories located inside the prisons.”
Recalling the incident that led to his imprisonment, Cruz said: “I spent nine years and a month in prison. I was jailed on trumped up charges of selling hard drugs to the locals. I was in detention for three years before they gave me a lawyer to stand for me in court. The judicial system is such that you cannot get a lawyer by yourself.
“They would be the one to give you a lawyer and whatever defence you give is inconsequential. Your sentence would have been decided long before you came to court. The jail term is always with hard labour and thorough beating.
“They organised their security operatives to give us mass beating, using baton and electric shock. They would place the electric instrument on your head and hit you mercilessly with the baton. Many of us fainted in the process.
“At a point, I developed mental challenges partly from being hit on the head with the baton and the electric instrument and partly as a result of watching the horrific sight of my colleagues’ organs being harvested. I spent one year and three months in a military psychiatric hospital called Hujing. Eight of us, all Nigerians, had similar problems and were admitted there. The hospital is located right inside the massive prison. At a point, they asked me to call our embassy to come and take me back home, but the embassy didn’t come.”
Corroborating Cruz’s allegations against the Chinese authorities, another former inmate, Onuora, who spent three years in prison, described his stay in Chinese prison as horrible. “They took the organs of our fellow inmates on three occasions that I am aware of. Each time they came to do that, they would chase us away so that we would not see what they were doing. But the practice was common knowledge in the whole prison. Each time they came, you would start praying that you would not be their target. I was lucky not to have been caught in that web.
“I served a three-year jail term in Donguang. I was jailed for exceeding my stay in the country after my travel documents had expired. I was in detention for one year and nine months before I was taken to court. They asked me to get a lawyer. I did and paid the lawyer, but he was not allowed to represent me. They eventually gave me their lawyer who only did their bidding.
“I was eventually sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with hard labour. The practice was that if you were asked to do something and for whatever reasons you failed to do it, they would add two months to your term.
“I was not allowed to speak with my family members when I was in detention. All through this period, my family members thought I was dead.”
Sunshine, another returnee, confessed that he was into hard drug business before he was caught and jailed.
Reliving his experience in prison, he said: “I went to China in 2005 after I graduated from the university. I studied Computer Science. I went there to search for greener pastures when all hope of getting gainful employment here in Nigeria failed. When I got there, things didn’t work out as I thought. This made me to get involved in drug business.
“I successfully did the business for about two years before they arrested me. I was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. To describe my experience in the prison as life in hell is an understatement. The police were always torturing us and on many occasions, you would be forced to confess to what you did not even do. We lost many people in the prison, not to talk of the ones they killed. They hated Nigerians with passion.
“It is true that they were taking our people’s organs. It didn’t really happen in the prison where I served my sentence, but some of their citizens who were my inmates told me about it before my Nigerian colleagues confirmed it.”
Asked what his advice would be to Nigerians who intend to travel to China, Sunshine said: “I would not advise anybody to go or not to go to China because our destinies are different. The only advice that I would give anybody planning to go there is that he or she should be very careful because the people are mean.
“In spite of that, I would tell you that China is a beautiful country. You will always enjoy the winter and their various festivals.
“The Chinese don’t care about your health as a black man. Our embassy is also not helping matters as they don’t represent us well. When you as a citizen of Nigeria complain about anything, they would not give you any attention. Instead of them attending to you, they prefer to give their attention to the Chinese. Our government should take time to investigate all these complaints.
“There are so many Nigerians who committed no offence but are daily dying in their prisons. There are so many others whose offences are insignificant and do not warrant their being sentenced, but are there languishing in prisons. Many African countries have signed treaties with the Chinese authorities to enable them take their nationals from various Chinese prisons back home to serve their jail terms but our government has declined to do this.
“Each time we complained about the hardship we were facing in the prisons, some kind-hearted Chinese officials would be wondering why our government was not interested in our predicament or making efforts to return us home.”
Nkiruka, sister to one of the numerous Nigerians currently serving their jail terms in China, recalled amidst tears how his brother laments each time he has the opportunity of speaking with her.
She said: “My only brother is serving in one of the Chinese prisons. He went there in 2005 to further his business interest. He was arrested there in 2007 but we didn’t get to hear from him until 2011. We knew about his arrest before then because his friends got in touch with us after he was arrested. We were told that he was arrested when the police carried out a mass arrest of black people.
“He was in detention for more than six years before they opened his case file and later sentenced him to jail. He told me that he was given 10 years imprisonment but his friends said he was given life sentence. I guess he said that to me to stop the family from worrying.
“My brother hinted me about the removal of the organs of Nigerian inmates by the authorities. He said that no fewer than 40 Nigerian prisoners die in various Chinese prisons every year. He calls home once in a while, and each time he talks to me about the prison conditions and what he is going through, I weep uncontrollably. I do send antibiotics to him from here because he often says that the prisons authorities don’t provide them with medical help. I do send it to his friends who look for the means of getting it across to him in the prison, using some prison officials. One of his fellow inmates who is also a Nigerian died recently because of lack of access to medical held,” she said.
Responding to a text message from our correspondent, the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora to President Muhammadu Buhari, Hon Abike Dabiri, said: “I am not aware of this allegation. Until I get details or hear directly from them (returnees).”
Chinese embassy denies allegations
The Chinese authority through its embassy in Nigeria has however debunked the allegations describing it as untrue and malicious.
Responding to enquiries by our correspondent, Yang Guanda, the spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said: “China is an open and civilized country practising rule of law, where the foreigners residing (therein) are treated equally without discrimination. It is stipulated clearly in the Article 32 of the Chinese Constitution that China protects the lawful rights and interests of foreigners within Chinese territory and foreigners on Chinese territory must abide by the laws of China.
“With the development of bilateral relations, more and more Nigerians travel to China for different purposes, which strongly promote the mutual cooperation and friendship between China and Nigeria. However, it is undeniable that, a few of Nigerians in China have engaged in illegal activities and therefore been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced by Chinese judicial authorities, according to Chinese laws and judicial sovereignty. The Chinese authorities treat Nigerian criminals equally and fairly, provide them with education and rehabilitation programme as well as humanitarian care.
“Regarding the prisoners’ rights and protection, China has established and constantly improved a series of relevant legislation and system as well. According to the Constitution, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Prison Law of China, all prisoners in Chinese prisons enjoy general rights composed of personal rights, property rights and political rights. For instance, the prisoners’ personal safety shall not be infringed upon, and they are accorded food, medical service and other material treatment necessary in daily lives to ensure their physical and mental health.”
He added: “The allegation that the Chinese government harvests and trades in human organs is equally groundless. The fact is that trading in human organs is illegal in China and strictly forbidden. Donation of organs is encouraged, as in other countries, but voluntary consent is the prerequisite. And this applies to both the public and condemned criminals.
The Chinese government is comprehensively advancing law-based governance. Respect and protection of human rights is enshrined in the Chinese Constitution and implemented fully as a basic constitutional principle. All aspects of human rights in China, including the right to development, rights of the person, democratic rights, right to impartial trial, rights of ethnic minorities etc., are respected and protected effectively.”
CNN, others vindicate Nigerians’ claim
A search conducted by our correspondent revealed that as part of efforts to bring an end to the unwholesome act, the Cable News Network (CNN) and other international media organisations have over the years carried out series of investigations on the weird practice and condemned same. In one of such reports, the CNN described the method by which human organs are harvested as cold and calculating.
In its June 15, 2006 report titled: “Ailing Americans seek Chinese organs”, CNN reported how people in need of kidney transplant go to China to obtain it.
Those organs, it reported may be cut from an executed death row prisoner without consent.
It specifically examined the case of one Eric DeLeon of San Mateo, California. Eric was diagnosed with liver cancer.
“Eric is not alone in looking to China for a new organ. We’re told that tens of thousands of foreigners are paying for transplant surgery in China. The problem is those organs may be cut from an executed death row prisoner without consent. That’s not all. Some organs are said to have been removed before the prisoner took his last breath in order to keep the organs as fresh as possible.
“I can still hear the sounds of those people shouting when they’re having their organs harvested while they are still alive,” one former prisoner told me.
You’re probably asking yourself by now: How is this allowed to happen?
Well, China executes more prisoners than all other nations combined. More than 4,700 men and women were executed in the last two years, according to Amnesty International. People there can be executed even for white collar crimes like tax fraud, embezzlement and bribery.”
“The harvesting method is cold and calculating: A single shot to the head if chest organs are needed; a shot to the body if the brain or eyes are needed. Recently, China started using “death vans” where lethal injection is administered on the road so all of the organs can be harvested.
“China’s deputy health minister acknowledges the organs are harvested from prisoners. But he says they are only harvested from those who give consent.
“The Chinese government refused our request for an interview, but issued a statement: “The reports about China’s random transplant of organs from executed criminals are untrue and a malicious slander against [the] Chinese Judiciary System. … In China, it is very prudent to use organs from death penalty criminals.”
“The government promises to change its transplant law July 1 by banning the sale of organs and limiting organ transplants. Critics doubt it will change much of anything for Chinese prisoners,” the report read in part.
It followed up with a report titled: Why China will struggle to end organ harvesting from executed prisoners in December, 2014.
