A 56-year-old indigene of Ilorin in Kwara State, Yahaya Nafiu, whose wife gave birth to 11 babies in Benin Republic, has cried out for help.
Nafiu appealed to spirited individuals to assist him with money so that he could care for the babies and their mothers.
Nafiu’s wife, Alake, 54, delivered 11 babies in Port Novo Ajasse, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
It was learnt that the babies, eight boys and three girls, are alive except for two of the girls who died during delivery.
Nafiu confirmed that two of the babies died, but the remaining nine are hale and hearty.
However, he lamented that his family is grappling with financial constraints due to the huge amount of money required to care for the babies and their mother.
“One other major challenge that we are now facing before we could bring the children home to Ilorin to show them to my parents is how to raise money for the marriage rites, as well as medical bills and police report”, Nafiu said.
It was gathered that a birth attendant took delivery of the babies on two different occasions.
The first delivery reportedly occurred on 7 July 2024, while the second batch of children was delivered on 14 August 2024.
“A few days after the delivery of the first set of children, the mother said she observed strange movement in her stomach and on getting to the hospital after a scan was carried out, the doctor revealed that she was carrying another set of children, which led them to contact the initial birth attendant where the next set of five babies was delivered”, Nafiu said.
He disclosed that he saw God’s miracle in the way the children were delivered, revealing that their pregnancy lasted over three years before delivery.
He explained that efforts to ascertain the pregnancy position of his wife proved abortive in the hospital, with medical doctors not able to carry out successful operations on the mother, which he attributed to spiritual influence on the medical doctors.
In his reaction to the development, the national president of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), Alh Abdulmumini Abdulmalik, confirmed that the father of the children hails from Onikeke Compound, Popo Giwa area of Ilorin.
He expressed delight that an Ilorin indigene living in Cotonou, Benin Republic, has been blessed with decuplets.
“While welcoming the decuplets and congratulating the parents on this uncommon blessing, we rejoice with the Emir of Ilorin, Alh Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, during whose reign this glorious history of an Ilorin indigene having decuplets is recorded,” he added.
Abdulmalik appealed to both government and public-spirited individuals, especially the philanthropists in Ilorin Emirate, to support Nafiu financially and materially so that he could fulfil his parental responsibility.
