Stolen 3-Day-Old Baby Found In Plateau Hospital

The Chief Medical Director of Plateau Specialist Hospital, Dr. Philemon Golwa, has said that a 3-day-old baby stolen from the facility has been found and is in special custody in the hospital.

Golwa said that the baby was recovered from her abductor and after proper identification by its mother, the baby was placed in special nursing care.

“The mother of the baby has been able to identify her baby and we have recovered her and have placed the baby at the special care unit and under specialised care nurses of the hospital.”

The baby belonging to 30-year-old Mary Chukwuebuka of Zarmaganda, Jos was stolen from her three days after birth at the hospital where she went to deliver the baby.

Chukwuebuka told newsmen that she gave birth on May 28, and the child, a baby girl, was stolen from her on May 31 by a woman who posed as a doctor.

“I came to the hospital on Monday after I was induced; I gave birth on Tuesday morning at about 3:45am.

“I lost a lot of blood during delivery and I was to be given blood through transfusion and my husband was not around and I had to call my mum.

“I was on transfusion from Wednesday to Friday morning, I was to be discharged that day but when the doctor came in the evening, he said that there was another test that they need to conduct the next morning.

“At about 6:17 p.m., a lady who dressed like a doctor came straight to me and asked where the form is. I gave her the form the doctor gave me earlier but she said that it was not that one, that it is the one for the baby.

“I had undressed the baby but she insisted that I should dress the baby back because she was taking the baby to the children’s ward and requested that my mother should follow her,” she narrated.

The victim said that shortly after, she alerted the nurses and realised that her baby had been stolen.

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Governor Simon Lalong, who was at the hospital, stated that the police were still investigating the matter and urged patients not to be discouraged by the act.

Lalong said that his administration was putting policies in place towards upgrading the hospital to a full specialist hospital and improve on its security.

He also said that measures would be put in place to ensure that such ugly incident does not happen again in the hospital.

Mother of the child, Mrs. Chukwuebuka, confirmed to reporters that her baby had been found and was in protective custody of the hospital and the police.

“We were invited by the police on June 12 to go identify our baby and on reaching there we met the woman who stole my baby with the police.

“The baby was hungry and crying and when she was told to breastfeed her she was finding it difficult to feed her and no breast milk was coming out.

“She was the same woman that disguised herself as a doctor and took my baby that morning. I am happy that I have set my eyes on my baby again.

“We were taken to the hospital by the police for blood tests to ascertain the real parents of the baby, the results have not yet been made known to us; I can’t wait for our baby to be handed back to us,” she said.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Terna Tyopev in a statement said the police made a head way during investigations.

He said the police got an intelligence that a woman by name Leritshimwa Diyal of Zawan in Jos South LGA had claimed to have given birth on the same May 31, while in purported kidnappers camp.

He said the suspect took the baby, a female child, to Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos for medical examination.

The police spokesman said the woman was in police custody and helping with necessary information which would be made public after investigations.

The suspect, Diyal, had claimed that she was kidnapped hours to her expected time of delivery and had been delivered of a healthy female child while in the kidnappers’ custody.

Diyal, 30, claimed she was taken to a bush somewhere near Abuja, some 300kms away from Jos.