An unidentified woman reportedly stole a newborn baby boy from the postnatal ward of Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
The mother of the hours-old baby, Mrs Wosilat Suleiman, told newsmen that she gave birth earlier that day through Caesarean Section. A relative of hers was with her after the birth of the child and needed to go home to pick some things so she introduced the new mum to a woman she just met at the hospital and begged the woman to help care for the new mum until she returned.
The new mum 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 relevant authorities to help her find her baby as she was still going through pain.
Reacting to the incident, the hospital management expressed regret that the theft happened despite strict security measures put in place in the facility to protect patients and staff.
The hospital’s Acting Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Dr Mohammed Salihu, said it was the first time such theft was witnessed in the hospital.
He explained that Wosilat was delivered of the baby at about 3 am and the baby was handed over to her relation before the mother and child were transferred to the postnatal ward.
He added that unfortunately, the relation of the patient entrusted a strange woman to look after her sister on account that she wanted to pick something from the house.
He said further that the hospital management had reported the matter to the police and an investigation was ongoing to unravel the case.
“Already the relation of the mother of the baby has been arrested and some of our staff on duty were invited by the police for questioning,’’ he said.
Salihu promised that management would review the CCTV footage in the hospital to arrest the culprit.