Gunmen snatch newborn immediately after birth
This sounds like a fairy tale but it is true.
Gunmen have invaded the labour room of a maternity home in Nkwoegwu, Ohuhu, in Umuahia North LGA of Abia State and took away a baby delivered a few minutes back, while nurses were battling to save the mother from bleeding to death.
The baby, a boy, was still dripping with blood when the evil men seized and folded him with the bed sheet in which he was lying.
The mother, Mrs. Eberechi Ihezukwu, says she still thinks that she is in one deep dream, which she will wake up from. “I only heard the cry of my baby and I asked the nurse its sex and she told me that it was a baby boy. I have had three girls for my husband and this is the first male child. My heart was joyful as I felt that I have got an identity in my husband’s house.
With the joy, I was happy that if the nurses stopped the bleeding, its arrival would be a consolation for my travails. “Now see what they have done to me. My breasts are heavy with milk; it is a burden I have refused to bear. They should please bring back my baby to suck my breasts. I refuse to believe that my baby has gone; the God who put it in my womb for nine months before its delivery will fish out the perpetrators and my baby will be brought back to me.
Peace will continue to elude those who have taken it until they bring it back to me,” Mrs. Ihezukwu prayed. Her husband, Clifford Ihezukwu, a radio/television repairer, said what was too much for him to understand was how the police, who he reported the incident to. turned him into a suspect and locked him up in a cell for two days (Tuesday to Thursday) until he allegedly bailed himself with N15, 000.
“On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, at about 2pm, my wife who was already heavy with a baby told me she was going to hospital (Our Lady of Apostles, Nkwoegwu, Ohuhu, Umuahia North LGA of Abia State) where she normally puts to bed. Later, she phoned me, seeking for my consent as the nurses wanted to give her hot drip to help her deliver of the baby since during her three previous pregnancies, there was no time she was given such hot drip before she put to bed. Instantly, I gave my consent if that would be the solution to the problem.
I learnt that the drip was at about 6pm. By 7pm, I went there to see her since it is within a short distance from my home. When I got to the maternity, I saw my wife’s sister rejoicing; she told me that my wife had just put to bed. I thanked God and told her to take charge while I went back to check what I was cooking. I was there when she rushed back to the house and was shouting: “My stomach! My stomach!” I asked her what was amiss and she told me that gunmen invaded the maternity, kicked her in the stomach after overpowering the security man and collected everybody’s cell phones, including that of my wife who was still inside the labour room where the nurses were battling to stop the bleeding after the delivery.
They dashed into the labour room, grabbed the baby who was still dripping with blood and dashed off. My wife was not yet conscious of what was going on as she battled for survival after the nurses had administered her with some injection to stop the bleeding. So, I rushed to the maternity. When I got there, the whole place was locked; I went round knocking at the windows until someone opened. When they narrated how gunmen carried out their operation and took my baby away, I took my wife and went straight home.
“When I later came back to the maternity, soldiers had besieged the arena. After asking questions, the soldiers picked the five nurses and I told them that my wife was still bleeding and appealed to them to allow one nurse to attend to her and they obliged me. After some time, policemen came and asked us what happened and I told them what transpired. Then, they asked me to come to the station in the morning and report the matter officially.
They asked me and I directed them to the home of the owner of the maternity and they left. In the morning, I was attending to my wife and children when they came and asked me why I had not come to the station as they directed me. Then, I told them that I was still attending to my wife and children and would soon be with them. Shortly after, I went to Afugiri Police Station to make an entry. On getting there, the policemen who came to my house earlier were not present so I waited for about four hours before they came back as I was told that they went to Umuosu, the home of the owner of the maternity.
I told the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) what I knew about the matter. When he asked why I left the maternity I told him that I went to feed my children and look after my wife who was still down. After another two hours, I told them that I was going to eat and see how my wife and children were doing. As I was speaking with him, he ordered that I should be kept behind the counter. My brother who came with me had to go and buy malt and snacks for me to eat because I was already famished. “Then the owner of the maternity, Mrs. Dan Mbakwe and her husband came with my Sister- in-Law. About 4pm,
I asked them what my offence was and why I should not be allowed to go home and see my family, but the policemen kept mute. After some time, they started intimidating and telling me that I was the number one suspect in the case and that I would soon be taken to see the Commissioner of Police and I said ok. “At about 5 pm, they brought out a Hilux van, put me, my sister in-law, Mrs. Mbakwe and her husband and the securityman at the hospital in it and took us to the State CID headquarters. At the State CID, I told them my story and they told me that it was late for me to be released and that I would be locked up till the next day.
They asked me to pull off my dress and then hauled my sister and me in-law into cell. But they kept Mrs. Mbakwe, her husband and the securityman at the counter. Then they all left and handed over to another set of policemen on duty. “In the morning, just before people started coming to work, they put us (the trio) into cell for about an hour to look as if all of us had been inside the cell all night. I then asked the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) what my offence was and he told me that no one had come for me. He said that he had asked them to bring N20, 000 for my bail. ‘Are you asking that amount of money from some one who had been passing through such a trauma?’ I asked the man who came for me later – Chief Ukaobasi.
I told him to look into my trouser pocket at the counter, maintaining that I had N8, 000 inside it. He found the money intact, added N2, 000 to it and paid the police with a promise to bring a balance of N5, 000 if they released me. On Thursday, they released me to go home. I then borrowed N5, 000 from a neigbour and sent to them to bring the total sum to N15, 000. But by I pm on that Thursday, the owner of the hospital and the security man were released. That is what I’m passing through. “I wonder why I should be made to go through this after my baby had been kidnapped and my wife left at a point of death.
“The name of the lady who signed my bail bond is Chioma. I ran to the police to help me because I had nobody and the police threw me into cell and turned me into a suspect instead of helping me to look for my stolen child. I am calling on the relevant authorities to come to my rescue. I have no one to fight for me,” he lamented. When contacted on phone, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ambrose Aisabor, who was shocked said he was not aware of the matter.
“Where did this happen; I’m not aware of this incident; I have to find out,” the CP replied. When Daily Sun visited the maternity along Nkwoegwu road in Ohuhu. It was under lock and key. Daily Sun also visited the home of the Mbakwes, owners of the maternity at Umuosu, Okauga and did not find any body at home for comments.
Source: Sun News
UPDATE: Husband Now A Suspect
The police in Umuahia, Abia State have said they are investigating possible involvement of the father of the baby kidnapped inside labour room in Nkwoegwu Ohuhu, in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state.
The Acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Jonathan Amaechi, stated this in his office at Police Headquarters, Bende Road, in the state capital, while interacting with Daily Sun.
He said the police were working very hard to unravel the mystery behind the kidnapping of the newborn baby minutes after it was delivered.
Amachi said the police were not satisfied with the woman’s husband’s attitude when he learnt of the wife’s delivery, wondering why a husband, whose wife was delivered of a baby, would be frowning instead of rejoicing.
Amaechi stated that the story before the police was that when the husband of the woman in labour was told that his wife had been delivered of a baby, he never bothered to see whether she was alive or dead.
Rather he just left the hospital and 15 minutes later, some gunmen struck and took away the baby, not minding that it was still dripping with blood.
He said: “The story before us is that one Eberechi Ihezukwu, at about 7.30 pm on Tuesday, November 13 showed signs of labour and told the husband that she was going to have a baby and then left. At the maternity, she was taken to the labour room where she safely had her baby.
“Surprisingly, nobody knew why her husband did not go to see the wife. Rather he turned and left. Not quite 15 minutes later, two gunmen came and asked of the whereabouts of Eberechi, went straight to the labour room where she was lying and snatched the baby who was still covered with blood,” the police spokesman said. He said further that it was at that juncture that one of the nurses on duty called the owners of the hospital, who instead of calling the police invited some soldiers. “It was later that the relations went to Ohuhu Police Station. They later saw that the matter was too much for them and referred it to state CID. Right now, the state CID is on it. They want to find out who is saying the truth.
Contrary to news reports, the husband was informed that his wife gave birth to a baby girl and he started frowning showing that he was not happy because his wife already had three girls. Not quite 15 minutes after he left, the gunmen struck. The issue that his wife gave birth and he was told but he refused to go and see whether she was alive or dead, leaves room for suspicion,” Amaechi said. “As at now, the only persons who can say the sex of the baby are the nurses who were there when the child was born and but now, they are nowhere to be found. As at quarter to nine this morning, (on the said day), I was at the state CID and they said they were still working on the source of the information: whether the baby was a boy or a girl. It was gathered that after the delivery, the man in question visited the maternity and was told that his wife had given birth to another baby girl.”
However, the comments of the police image maker runs contrary to Ihezukwu’s statement made to Daily Sun that he was told that his wife gave birth to a baby boy and that he only left the maternity to prepare food for his children at home since the maternity was just a stone throw from his house. While trying to puncture some of Ihezukwu’s claims, Amaechi disclosed to Daily Sun part of his discussion with the Assistant Commissioner of Police at the state CID. He said: “The assistant commissioner in charge of state CID said the owners of the hospital were asked to go home based on their ages and health conditions. What then would have made him frown upon hearing that his wife was delivered of a baby?” the acting PPRO queried.
He also said the new assistant commissioner in charge of state CID told him that all the suspects were on bail, and that they were still looking for the whereabouts of the nurses, contrary to the news relayed by the state radio, that “police had reportedly arrested four nurses and the husband of the woman, Mr. Clifford Ihezukwu.” Meanwhile, an air of uncertainty had enveloped Nkwoegwu, the community where the incident happened.
A source told Daily Sun that Clifford Ihezukwu had not been seen and wondered whether he was released by the police to be reporting back daily or not. It was also not known whether it was in continuation of their investigation of the kidnap or on the grounds of the allegation Ihezukwu levelled against the police that he was made to pay N15, 000 before being released on bail. It was gathered that the police came again some days ago and whisked away his wife. At as the time of filing this report, she had not returned.
However, the police had released the statement allegedly made by Ihezukwu at the time the incident was first reported. It reads: “Clifford Ihezukwu, 41 years, said that on November 13, he was aware that his wife was in labour and left for the maternity. It was one Nneka Friday, my sister-in-law that told me that my wife had delivered and on hearing this, I left the maternity without seeing my wife. I was in the house when Nneka Friday came shouting that two gunmen struck, kicked her in the stomach, went straight for the baby and collected it.”
In his own statement to the police read by the PPRO to Daily Sun, the security man at the maternity, Mr. Chukwunyere Mbakwe said it was about 15 minutes after Ihezukwu left that he heard a knock on the gate and when he opened, two men ordered him to surrender at gunpoint, went straight to the labour room and folded the baby still covered with blood with a bed sheet and left.” When contacted for comment, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Abia State Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue expressed disappointment that he was not contacted before the first publication was made by Daily Sun. He said he didn’t want to get involved at this stage.
“If I had been contacted I would have made my imput alongside others, but at this point, I don’t want to be involved in the matter,” he said.
Source: Sun News
No comments:
Post a Comment