Corps member’s
shocking find
Picks a baby inside polythene bag at dump site
By NWAGBO NNENYELIKE, Ilorin
Saturday,
December 23, 2006
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•Nwabugwu
Nwando
Photo By Sun News Publishing |
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If not for the intervention of Nwabugwu Nwando Ogochukwwu
a corps member with Federal Polytechnics Offa, Kwara State ants inside a refuse
dump would have eaten up a seven-day-old baby where the unknown mother abandoned
the child.
People who saw the baby in the dump thought it was used for
ritual. Even after its rescue, the hospital threw the baby and the corps member
away. But the Police saved the situation. Meanwhile, the Anambra-born corps member
disclosed that she would like to play the role of a mother to the baby. Baby in black bag
The baby was wrapped in a black
polyethene bag when Nwabugwu picked it at a dumpsite located between General Hospital,
Offa and Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church (MFM). The corps member who hails
from Nnobi, Idemili Local Government Area, Anambra State was on her way to the
church for a programme on the fateful Saturday.
Narrating how she summoned
the courage to the pick the child in the dustbin she said the child was crying
non-stop. She said inspite of the child's cry; nobody summoned the courage to
rescue it. “I was on my way to the church for our Saturday programme, I
saw a crowd gathered near a dumpsite. When I got there I heard the cry of a baby.
I made the move to go and pick the baby. The people were discouraging me”. Baby
for ritual
The corps member who is newly married is yet to have a baby. She
told Saturday Sun that why People discouraged her from saving the bay was because
they assumed the child would have been used for ritual.
Meanwhile the Good
Samaritan said she refused to listen to them. “As I continue to hear the
cry of pains from the child something in me told me not to mind what the people
are saying. I brought out the baby from the bin. As I unwrap the baby, people
ran closer to see. I called the Pastor of MFM on phone to narrate what happened
to him.'' Ants eating up the baby
Nwabugwu said it was discovered that
the black ants have invaded the black polyethene bag. They had already started
eating up the baby. They were all over the baby's body. Some parts of the flesh
were already bitten open by the ants. As a result of this she took the baby and
proceeded to the General Hospital immediately. Hospital threw us
away
In
the hospital she said the baby was cleaned up. The sex of the baby was also known.
She is female. But the corps member received the shock of her life in what happened
next. According to her. “I was given attention by the Maternity session
of the hospital. When I got to the hospital, I paid for the consultation card.
They bathed the baby. But Igot a shocker of my life when the hospital eventually
refused to attend to me. The Hospital sent me away with the baby. When I insisted
that I would not go, I was told it was because they discovered the baby was an
abandoned child. They said they do not attend to such case.'' Going
to the police
Frustrated from the unfortunate treatment at the hospital, the corps
member proceeded to the police station with the baby. She said as she lodged the
complaint, she was told to make a statement. And also to bring a witness. So she
called the Pastor of MFM on phone again telling him to come and testify in the
police over the baby. Narrating the kindness displayed by the police, Nwabugwu
said: “Before the Pastor could come, the Divisional Police Officer, a woman,
accompanied me to purchase drugs. Subsequently the Pastor arrived and made a statement
as a witness. We were asked o come back on Monday.
She said before going
to the Station on Monday, she went to the Market with a female Police and the
baby. There Market women and others gave gift items to the baby. The items are
baby's clothes and shoes as well as money. The baby's whereabouts unknown
The
baby was taken to the Welfare section of the Local Government Area. The police
instructed them there to issue form to Nwabugwu to fill. Another amazing thing
happened again. As the form was being awaited, a hired taxi cab came and picked
the baby. The corps member said all the effort she made to join the taxi or to
know where the baby was being taken to hit the rocks.
Afraid over the fate
of the child, Nwabugwu rushed back to the Police Station to complain. A Police
officer was given to her from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). As
she got to the Local Government Secretariat with the CID, they learnt through
his interrogation of the people there that the baby had been taken to a Motherless
babies home in Ilorin.
“I insisted that I should be taken to the
home to see the baby. I received a bigger shock when I got there. They told me
that they do not know me. As such they would not allow me see the baby. But I
narrated the details of the baby and myself.” It would take a lot more effor
and pressure before she would be allowed to see the baby. Christening
the baby
“As all these were happening” the corps member
revealed, “what was going through my mind is the name to give to the baby.
And because in my place names are given to babies due to the events surrounding
the baby or the experience of the parents, I decided to call her Oluchukwu. The
meaning is God's work. You can agree with me that it is God's work and doing that
brought about her being picked up by me. I mean if God did not give me that courage,
the innocent child would have died. The English name I gave to her is Favour.
Of course, the name is self-explanatory.
The child has been favoured by
God. I can say that I have been favoured as well. Given the opportunity, I would
like to adopt the baby. I mean she needs a mother. I would love to play that role
for Favour as I have already named her. It is all about God's work. Also the pressure
I had the day I picked the baby is one reason that would make me want to be the
mother. In fact God has a purpose for Oluchukwu. I want that to be achieved through
me.''
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