The Police in Nasarawa State have arrested three persons in connection with the disappearance of a newborn baby from the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia, the state capital.
The baby, according to the mother, Mrs Wosilat Suleiman, was put to bed at about 3:am on Tuesday through Cesarean Section (CS) but was stolen hours later by a yet-to-be-identified woman.
“My relative who was taking care of me during the delivery wanted to pick up some things from the house, so she introduced a woman to me whom I am not familiar with, to take care of me pending when she will be back,” Wosilat said.
“She told me that the woman would take care of me and the baby before she returned from the house.
“My relatives who concluded that the woman had a patient at the ward trusted her to help us before she returned.
“While at the postnatal ward, the woman gave me the impression she wanted to bathe the baby and disappeared with him,” she explained.
Reacting to the development, the state commissioner of police, Mr Umar Shehu Nadada, told journalists on Wednesday that the command is on top of the situation.
“We are working diligently to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing child,” he stated, adding that three people have been arrested while many others have been interrogated over the matter.
“According to reports, the incident was brought to light by Suleiman Abdullahi of Timber Shade, who visited the A Division police station yesterday, January 9th, 2024, to report the disappearance of his newborn son.
“Investigation is ongoing, I don’t want to prematurely speculate, but I don’t think it is connected to ritualists,” he said.
The management of the hospital through the acting head of Obstetrics and Gynecology department, Dr. Mohammed Salihu, said it was the first time a thing like this ever happened at the hospital.
He explained that the baby was delivered around 3:00 am and handed to relations of the patient before they were transferred to the postnatal ward.
He said it was unfortunate that the relations of the patient entrusted a strange woman to look after her sister resulting in the crisis.
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