Lagos State police arrested Shola Opeyemi, a laboratory
assistant who allegedly purchased pints of blood from secondary school
students in the Orile-Agege area.
A traditional leader in the community tipped off the police about Opeyemi’s bloody trade.
According to Punch Metro, Opeyemi was a former employee of a medical lab that supplied blood to hospitals in Lagos, but he started his new venture when he was fired from that job late last year.
Secondary school students looking to make a quick buck sold their blood of their own accord and the suspect sold the pints to hospitals for a sizeable profit.
Sources within the community said they knew Opeyemi as a dealer in medical supplies – antiseptics, bandages, medical tapes and surgical needles – but his other dealing was kept quiet, known only to the buyer and sellers, the students.
Suspicions were raised, however, when students were seen flocking to his little shop “for no obvious reason,” one source told Punch Metro.
Opeyemi bought pints of blood from the students for N1,500, which seems to be the standard price for blood in the black market.
Last month, Elere Police station in Lagos arrested two suspects caught buying blood from secondary school students, also at the same rate.
Like Opeyemi, they sold the vital fluid for a profitable margin and to hospitals in Lagos.
Opeyemi confessed to the crime when arrested and said he carried out medical checks on his donors before taking their blood.
Some students who sold their blood to suspect were also arrested. Police officials investigating the matter checked students in the community for needle marks and the source said “all the students involved attended the same school.”
Opeyemi is not the only blood dealer arrested in Lagos this week.
Tunde Adiagbo was arrested in Abule Egba for allegedly arranging blood donors for hospitals for a fee. A source told Punch Metro that Adiagbo carried out his work under the guise of a blood donation advocate.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner Mr. Umar Manko confirmed the arrests. He said: “Opeyemi and Adiagbo were arrested when their respective communities raised alarm over their activities. Both men are currently under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, after which the law would take its course.”
A traditional leader in the community tipped off the police about Opeyemi’s bloody trade.
According to Punch Metro, Opeyemi was a former employee of a medical lab that supplied blood to hospitals in Lagos, but he started his new venture when he was fired from that job late last year.
Secondary school students looking to make a quick buck sold their blood of their own accord and the suspect sold the pints to hospitals for a sizeable profit.
Sources within the community said they knew Opeyemi as a dealer in medical supplies – antiseptics, bandages, medical tapes and surgical needles – but his other dealing was kept quiet, known only to the buyer and sellers, the students.
Suspicions were raised, however, when students were seen flocking to his little shop “for no obvious reason,” one source told Punch Metro.
Opeyemi bought pints of blood from the students for N1,500, which seems to be the standard price for blood in the black market.
Last month, Elere Police station in Lagos arrested two suspects caught buying blood from secondary school students, also at the same rate.
Like Opeyemi, they sold the vital fluid for a profitable margin and to hospitals in Lagos.
Opeyemi confessed to the crime when arrested and said he carried out medical checks on his donors before taking their blood.
Some students who sold their blood to suspect were also arrested. Police officials investigating the matter checked students in the community for needle marks and the source said “all the students involved attended the same school.”
Opeyemi is not the only blood dealer arrested in Lagos this week.
Tunde Adiagbo was arrested in Abule Egba for allegedly arranging blood donors for hospitals for a fee. A source told Punch Metro that Adiagbo carried out his work under the guise of a blood donation advocate.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner Mr. Umar Manko confirmed the arrests. He said: “Opeyemi and Adiagbo were arrested when their respective communities raised alarm over their activities. Both men are currently under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, after which the law would take its course.”
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