A newly born baby, still with his umbilical cord attached and with blood on its body, was found abandoned Friday morning at a dump near Shyllon Junction, Palmgrove area of Ilupeju in Lagos.
An eye witness to the find, Mr. Adeleke Adesanya, said the abandoned baby was found by a scavenger at the dump who alerted residents of the area who picked the baby.
“The baby was discovered around 10am at Shyllon Junction by some people. The baby was found wrapped with an Ankara inside a sack,” said Mr. Adesanya.
A second eye witness corroborated Mr. Adesanya’s account saying “I believe that the abandoned baby is a lucky child. The baby was found in the dustbin shortly after Lagos Waste Management Agency officials packed all the waste in the dustbin. It was a boy who was trying to pick something from the dustbin that raised alarm over the abandoned child.
“What happened was that while the boy was trying to bring out a sack from the refuse dump, the sack dropped from his hand and to his surprise he saw blood on the ground and heard the voice of a crying baby. He was scared and moved away; it was his voice that caught the attention of passersby to move closer to see what was happening. And when we moved closer we saw the child with umbilical cord,” the eye witness said.
Worried by the state of the child, the residents alerted officials of the Little Saints Orphanage, whose office was nearby to come to their rescue. The orphanage officials came and took the baby to Ultima Medical Clinic for proper medical attention. It was at the hospital that the baby was finally cleaned up and his umbilical cord removed.
The boy was later handed over to officials of the orphanage. Confirming the incident to Saturday Mirror, a reli-able source at Ilupeju Po-lice Station, said that the incident was reported at the police station by a Good Samaritan.
“The abandoned baby was found at a dustbin in Shyllon Junction and the incident was reported to us by a Good Samaritan. We went there to pick the baby and we took the baby for medical care with officials of the Little Saints Orphan-age,” the source said.
Founder of Little Saints Orphanage, Rev. (Mrs.) Dele George, said that her orphanage decided to intervene because it was the closest orphanage to the venue of the discovery.
“We were informed about the abandoned child and because we are very close to where the baby was found, and we decided to intervene. We reported the incident to the police and with the approval of the police we took the child to Ultima Medical Clinic for first-aid treatment because the umbilical cord of the baby was yet to be cut when we saw him.”
“The baby was still fresh as at the time we carried it, he was still some hours old. He is a very handsome boy and the baby is yet to be traumatized as at the time we saw him. I believe the mother abandoned baby immediately she delivered.
The baby was still fresh, he was newly abandoned and from the look of things, he was not even a day old. After treating the baby we decided to give him to the Ministry of Youths and Social Development, where they will decide the orphanage the baby will be taken to.”
The discovery of the baby was recorded at the Juvenile Welfare Centre, Alakara, Idi-Oro, in Mushin area of Lagos before he was handed over to an official of the Ministry of Youths and Social Development who will decide what to do with the baby.
- Story Courtesy of the National Mirror