Nigerian whose kidney was allegedly stolen in Italy now paralysed, says Rep

Lawmaker petitions Foreign Affairs Ministry
A Nigerian woman, Julia Osamede Idehen, 39, whose kidney was allegedly stolen at a hospital in the United Kingdom in 2009, is now suffering from paralysis due to lack of proper medication, said a member of House of Representatives, Mrs. Rita Orji, representing Ajeromi/ Ifelodun federal constituency of Lagos State.

Orji, who just returned from a visit to Italy to see Idehen, in the company with two members of the House Committee on Diaspora, which she chairs, said there was urgent need for Federal Government to wade into the matter to save the Nigerian whose health was fast deteriorating.

At the moment, she said, Idehen, who was 32 when the incident occurred, was being kept in a mental home for the elderly after she begun showing signs of disillusionment and psychological discomfort.

Orji said she had petitioned the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs before embarking on the visit, following a tip off, which called her attention to it November 2015.

“Two Reps members and I, who are members of the House Committee on Diaspora have just returned from Italy where we went to see Julie, the Nigerian woman in her 30s whose kidney was allegedly stolen in an Italian hospital where she had gone in 2009 to seek medication.

“As I speak, she is paralysed and being kept in a mental home for the aged for rehabilitation and we feel that is not the best way to handle her situation. She needs proper treatment.

“For us it is negligence on the part of the Nigerian Embassy in Italy to allow its citizen go through this for seven years without intervention. I have approached them, and currently, I have petitioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the matter.

“I also have briefed the Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and anytime from now, they will list for hearing, my petition to the House on the matter.
“I thank Brekete family for bringing this matter to our attention, without which, we will not know. It would have been swept under the carpet like other cases of human rights abuses against our citizens in some parts of the world,” she said.

She called on interest groups and well-meaning Nigerians to assist the Federal Government in pursuing the rescue of the Nigerian woman and protecting other citizens from harassment by authorities in foreign lands where they live and do legitimate businesses.