The Kwara State Police Command has arrested medical staff from the Government Cottage Hospital in Iloffa town, located in the Oke-Ero local government area of the state, over the missing umbilical cord and placenta of a newborn baby.
A new
mum, identified as Mrs. Williams C.B.A., raised the alarm about the missing
placenta and umbilical cord following the delivery of her baby last Sunday.
Subsequently,
police launched an investigation.
About
five suspected health workers are being detained by the General Investigation
Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the police command in
Ilorin.
The
matter was brought to the police headquarters in Ilorin for further
investigation when efforts to unravel the mystery at various levels of the
local government failed.
The
investigation also found that it took the concerted efforts of elders from the
Odo-Owa community to calm the frayed nerves of restive youths, who suspected
foul play as they were about to burn down the hospital over the incident.
The
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kwara State Police Command, Toun
Ejire-Adeyemi, confirmed the development and the arrest of the suspects, saying
that investigation had already commenced.
Speaking
with journalists, the nursing mother of the newborn baby, who teaches the
English Language in the Orofa High School, Odo-Owa, narrated her ordeal.
She
said: "“I got to the Cottage hospital some minutes past 1:00 pm on Sunday
and told the particular nurse I met on duty that I was having contraptions. She
was the one who attended to me after confirming that I was truly in labour.
“She took me into the labour room and asked me
to wait because I still have more time. Not quite long after I came, when the
doctor also came in. At about some minutes to 5pm the doctor asked the nurse to
usher me into labour room again that he wanted to check how close the baby was.
“He then asked that a drip be fixed on me, and
at about some minutes past 6:00 pm, the labour started and I delivered the baby
around some minutes to 7pm.
“Three women were present, two of them are
nurses while one is a Ward attendant.
“In the course of the delivery, it was one
Nurse Alabi that took the delivery and Nurse Adeloye and the Ward Attendant
identified as Mrs Toyin. I don’t know her surname Those were the three people
present.
“Lest I forget, there are two missing items
inside the nylon; the Umbilical cord and the placenta.
“Also, while they were taking the delivery, a
particular woman came and said that she was supposed to be on duty that day,
that she took permission that she wanted to travel that she was just returning.
She was also there during the delivery which makes the number of those present
to be four women in all. She was also later invited by the police.
“Later
the doctor joined them. He was not fully involved. He was just coming and
going. The delivery was not done in his presence.
“Nurse Alabi, who took the delivery was the
one who took the Umbilical cord and the placenta and dropped them inside a
nylon that has the inscription name of the hospital and then dropped the nylon
inside a carton placed right beside the delivery couch.
“As soon as that was done,they cleaned the
baby and myself up and Nurse Adeloye ushered me into the main ward. The baby
was placed beside me and I wasn’t feeling too well.
“Not long after that,Mrs Toyin brought in my
belongings from the labour room which were two bags and placed them beside the bed.
“I didn’t ask her about the contents of the
bags because I thought the nylon of the placenta and the Umbilical cord was
included in one of my bags .
“Very early the following morning when I woke
up I remembered the placenta, when I looked around I didn’t see any of the
Nurses that attended to me , probably they have gone home.
“When I discovered that the placenta was
missing, I called a particular woman, also a ward maid but not among those who
took my delivery in the night shift.
“When I told her, she said ‘Haaa’ that we
should go together to the labour room which we did. When we got there the nylon
inside which the placenta was kept was no longer there, likewise the carton too."
She
said she raised the alarm after the doctor and nurses who delivered the baby
failed to produce the placenta and umbilical cord.
“Some
of their staff started telling me they’re sorry that there was a mistake. The
attendant said she had thrown the placenta inside a pit but they could not find
it suggesting a dog might have eaten it.
“That was When I flared up with some members
of my church who were also present that it’s not possible that they just have
to present the placenta."
Mrs
Williams’ father, Mr Rufus Sanya, said he suspected foul play.
“How could an umbilical cord and a placenta of
a new baby be missing when we all know the implication?
“I urge the police to do a thorough
investigation and unravel the mystery behind this disappearance. That is only
when justice would be said to have been served and we would be at peace with
ourselves,” he said.
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