The Lagos State Police Command has apprehended a
37-year-old woman for allegedly dumping her one-day-old baby girl in a bush,
causing her death.
According to the police authorities, the woman,
Aderoju Ojelabi, placed her baby in a sack along with her placenta and dumped
her in a bush not too far from her home on November 25, 2012.
Ojelabi told PUNCH Metro that she dumped
the baby because of the financial burden of raising her, adding that she was
still nursing an 18-month-old baby when she gave birth to the baby.
She said, “I’ve been married four times and I
have five children. My last husband died last year and presently I’m nursing an
18-month-old baby boy. When I couldn’t fend for myself anymore, I started
dating someone and the man was taking care of me.
“I discovered that I was pregnant in March so I
went to meet my boyfriend but he rejected the pregnancy. Our relationship
turned sour soon after and I ran into financial difficulty. I considered
aborting the pregnancy but I was too scared to do it. Besides, I didn’t have
money.”
Ojelabi, who claimed to be a hairdressing
apprentice, said she delivered her baby girl at home without any help. She said
when it was midnight, she dumped the baby not too far from her house located at
1, Honourable Street, Ade-Oga, Igando.
“I gave birth to the baby around 9pm on
November 24 in my room. When it was midnight, I put the baby in a sack and
dumped her in a nearby bush. I returned home afterwards,” she said.
Our correspondent learnt that the following
morning, residents were attracted by the cries of the baby and when they
discovered her, they immediately reported the matter at Igando Police Division.
It was learnt that policewomen attached to the
Juvenile Section of the station immediately bathed the baby who was soaked in
blood and tried to administer first aid.
A policeman, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, said the baby was in a critical condition when she was discovered
because of the long hours she had stayed in the sack.
He said, “Expectedly, a new-born baby should have
been fed and kept warm immediately after birth but the suspect did not feed the
child. Rather, she put her in a sack, making it difficult for the baby to
breathe. The baby was also covered in blood which means the suspect did not
even deem it fit to clean her up.
“Policewomen were able to bathe the baby and even
bought a shawl and wrapped it around her but because the baby was very little,
we couldn’t do much so we rushed her to Igando General Hospital. Due to the
severity of the case, the baby was transferred to Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. However, the baby was transferred again to Lagos University
Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, where she was confirmed dead.”
The corpse of the baby, it was learnt, had been
deposited at the morgue of General Hospital, Isolo.
PUNCH Metro learnt that immediately
after the incident, the police held a meeting with the landlords in the area in
a bid to locate the mother of the baby.
“When neighbours pointed out that Ojelabi was
heavily pregnant the previous day but could not give account of the baby’s
whereabouts, she automatically became a suspect. Upon interrogation, she
confessed,” the police source said.
Ojelabi, it was learnt, had been transferred to
the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, and would soon be charged to
court.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the state
police command, Ngozi Braide, said the suspect would be charged to court this
week.
“The suspect dumped her baby which led to her
(baby’s) death. She will be charged with infanticide,” she said.
Punch
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