Newborn Stolen in Nasarawa Hospital, Police Arrest Three

The Nasarawa State Police Command says it has commenced an investigation into the stealing of a newborn baby who was delivered through a Caesarean section by a 20-year-old woman at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.

The newborn, a baby boy, was said to have been stolen a few hours after his birth on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, by a yet-to-be-identified stranger. Speaking on the development during a press briefing in Lafia on Wednesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, said three suspects have so far been arrested in connection to the matter. He said, “Yesterday (Tuesday), one Suleiman Abdullahi of Timber Shade went to A Division Police Station and reported that his wife had caesarian section at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia. “He narrated that his brother’s wife who was assisting his wife wanted to go home to get a charger and handed over the child to an unknown woman. “But when she came back to the ward, she could not find the child and the woman. I don’t think the matter is connected to ritualis but investigation is ongoing at the State Criminal Investigation Department. The outcome of the investigation will be communicated to journalists in due time.”

Meanwhile, findings by our correspondent indicate that the incident occurred around 6am at the post-natal ward of the state-owned Specialist Hospital when the caregiver left the baby in the care of a stranger. When interviewed to get her reaction to the development, the mother of the one-day-old baby, Wosilat Suleiman, said, “My relation that was looking after me introduced the strange woman she met in the ward to me before she went home to pick something. She told me that the woman would take care of me and the baby before she returned from the house. My relation thought the woman had a patient at the ward and she trusted her to help us before she returned. The woman told me she wanted to bathe the baby and disappeared with him.” She appealed to the relevant authorities to help her find her baby, as she was going through unimaginable pains over the loss of her child.

Reacting to the incident, the hospital’s acting Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Dr. Mohammed Salihu, said it was the first time that such a thing happened in the hospital. He said the management was collaborating with the police to unravel the suspect behind the dastardly act. Already, the relations of the mother of the baby have been arrested and some of our staff on duty were invited by the police for questioning. The management would review the CCTV footage with a view of arresting the culprit,” he added.

Source: Punch