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A distressed mother, Mary Chukwuebuka, and her husband, Nwagod, have appealed to Plateau State Specialists Hospital, Jos, management, the state Police Command and the public to help in locating their baby stolen three days after birth from the hospital.
         The 30-year-old Mary Chukwuebuka of Zaramaganda Area told newsmen in Jos, yesterday, that she gave birth on May 28 and the child, a baby girl, was stolen from her on May 31 by a woman, who posed as a doctor. She said: “I came to the hospital on Monday. After I was induced, I gave birth on Tuesday morning at about 3:45a.m. “I lost a lot of blood during delivery and I was to be given blood through transfusion. But my husband was not around, so I had to call my mom. “I was on transfusion from Wednesday to Friday morning. After the transfusion, the doctor recommended another transfusion, but I refused because we were not financially buoyant and he understood. “I was to be discharged that day, but when the doctor came in the evening, he said there was another test that they need to conduct the next morning. At about 6:17p.m., a lady who dressed like a doctor came straight to me and asked where the form is. I gave her the form the doctor gave me earlier, but she said it was not the one, that it is the one for the baby. “I told her I was not given any form for the baby, but she told me the baby needs to be tested too, as her blood sample was needed and that I should give her my baby. “I had undressed the baby, but she insisted that I should dress the baby because she was taking the baby to the children’s ward and requested that my mother should follow her.” She said that shortly after they left her presence, the ‘doctor’ told the mother to go back and look after her, that she would bring the child after the test.  

      According to Chukwuebuka, an hour after, she started looking for her child when the ‘doctor’ did not bring back the baby. She said she rushed to the children’s ward where the ‘doctor’ claimed to have taken her child, but did not see any child and she immediately alerted the nurses. She said the management of the hospital invited the Police and they took her statement that evening. Her words: “But since then neither the Police nor the management is telling us anything about the whereabouts of our child. We want you to please let the world know what is happening so that people will help us get our child back.” Her husband, Nwagod Chukwuebuka, who had engaged the services of Legal Aid Council, said he was advised to meet with the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Philemon Golwa. Narrating his meeting with the CMD, he said: “I met with the hospital’s management and told them I have not heard anything and my wife has been in the hospital since this incident happened on May 31 and even paracetamol has not been given to her.” Chukwuebuka said the CMD said they were keeping the wife in the hospital to save her from depression. His words: “He said they are keeping her so that she will not get mentally ill because when she gets back home, she may be hearing different rumours around and she might develop mental issues. But I told them I don’t want her to be here again. “The CMD was asking me why we involved a lawyer and I said, if you were in my shoes for 10 days, your new born baby is not with you and your wife is in the hospital, and nobody is opening up to tell you anything, how will you feel?
        The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Philemon Golwa, disclosed that the hospital management immediately informed the Police about the development. Golwa said the Police were on the trail of the criminals, adding “it is not good for me to make any disclosure until the Police finish their job, otherwise the process would be tampered with completely. “I want the Police to hasten their investigations so that they can give us the report.” The CMD stated that the hospital mobilised the Police to go to different places with a view to recovering the child. Contacted, DSP Terna Tyopev, the Police Public Relations Officer of Plateau State Command, said the command was aware of the incident, adding that investigations were currently ongoing.