A good Nigerian, Hajiya Fatima Adamu, rescued a day-old baby girl dumped by unidentified mother by roadside on Kuta Road, opposite Central Mosque in Minna.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the baby was brought to the Niger State Child Rights Protection Agency on Tuesday.
Adamu said that the baby, wrapped in a wrapper and dumped by the roadside, was found by a passer-by.
She said that her attention was drawn to where the baby was dumped by neighbours.
She added that “when I got to the scene, I saw people gathered and I inquired and was told that an unidentified woman alighted from a motorcycle and dumped the baby.
“Everybody was afraid to touch the baby because nobody saw the person who dumped her, except children who were playing outside.
“The children said they saw a woman disembarked from a motorcycle and dropped something that was moving.
“The children informed their parents but before they could come out of their houses, the motorcyclist had zoomed off with the woman.
“They – the children, alerted the neighborhood and everyone rushed to the scene.”
Adamu added that a member of a vigilance group who lives in the area picked up the baby and the two of them reported the matter at the Central Police Station.
“The police on duty collected the baby and promised to bring the matter before the child rights agency that handles issues of children and women, and their welfare,’’ she said.
The policewoman on duty, Hassana Usman, confirmed the story.
She told NAN that the baby was brought to the station by the woman (Fatima Adamu) and a member of a vigilance group on Saturday.
Usman said that when the baby was brought to the station, she noticed that she had not even been cleaned or given a bath.
She added that “the mother of the baby dumped her as soon as she delivered.
She said “I had to appeal to women who live close to the station to assist me with hot water to bath the baby because she was left under cold and was not doing well.
“I also had to take the baby to the hospital on Sunday since it was weekend.
“The baby had been under my care since Saturday night that she was brought to the station. I now brought her to the Child Rights Agency today (Tuesday).”
Reacting, Mrs Mairam Kolo, the Director-General of the Niger State Child Rights Protection Agency, appealed to the public to assist with useful information on the identity of the baby’s mother.
“We are calling on anyone, especially those living around the area that know any woman who was pregnant and recently delivered in the last three days and has not been seen with a baby to report to our agency.
“This is to enable us to identify the mother and bring her to justice,’’ she said.
Kolo said that the agency would work with the police and Ministry of Women Affairs to investigate the matter.
She commended the woman who rescued the baby girl. (NAN)