LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)– Canada’s federal health regulator, Health Canada, has launched an investigation into the deaths of two Nigerian plasma donors at private collection centres in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Health Canada confirmed it received mandatory reports of fatal adverse reactions following plasma donations carried out in October 2025 and January 2026 at clinics operated by Grifols, a Spanish healthcare firm that runs 17 plasma collection centres across Canada, including two in Winnipeg.
Shortly after, federal inspectors were dispatched to both facilities for investigation.
According to reports, one of the deceased was identified by a friends as Rodiyat Alabede, a Nigerian-Ivorian international student living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The 22-year-old had been active in the city’s Muslim Nigerian community, while studying to become a social worker.
The identity of the second deceased donor remain known only to the officials at this time.
Reports also state that privacy laws prevent spokespersons from the Manitoba examiner’s office and Health Canada from disclosing further personal details.
The Executive Director of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manitoba, told The New York Times that Alabede became unresponsive during the plasma donation procedure and died shortly afterward.
She also explained that a conclusive link between the donation process and subsequent death has not been established by investigators.
“Certain investigative steps may still be in progress,” Holfeld said.
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Friends remembered the student as resilient and compassionate.
Grifols expressed condolences to the families of the deceased while maintaining that the procedures themselves were unlikely to be responsible.
“We have no reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors passing and plasma donation,” the company said in a statement.
The company added that they perform extensive health assessment on donors before they are approved for the procedure, adding that both incidents were reported to federal authorities within the required 72-hour window.
Grifols also said it has opened an internal investigation into the deaths.
Financial incentives often attract students and lower-income earners to plasma donation in both Canada and the United States. Grifols advertises that regular donors may earn about 6,000 Canadian dollars annually or about 7.2 million Nigerian naira.
Investigations continue into the deaths as investigators examine medical records, clinic procedures, and other evidence to determine whether the deaths were related to the plasma donations or resulted from unrelated medical conditions.
