AKINWALE ABOLUWADE writes on the pains and experiences of missing and abandoned children even as experts express worries about the danger of exposing vulnerable children to health and social risks .
Baby Ajoke is apparently feeling lonely; she longs for her mother’s warmth and attention. Ajoke, who is barely three months old, feels insecure and nothing gives her solace as nothing compares to the love, protection and care that she got from her mother before they lost touch. Every minute, she hopes that her mother would be back again to cuddle and tend to her needs. But the hope of a reunion has been permanently dashed because her mother died in a ghastly auto crash in which they were both involved.
Ajoke and a few others had cheated death in the crash that claimed many lives at the popular Aleshinloye Market, Ibadan South West Local Government Development Area of Oyo State on Sunday, July 29, 2018. Her mother and a few others were not as lucky in the tragic incident.
As the story goes, the baby girl with her mother and a few others were waiting for a vehicle at a bus stop in the market when a driver lost control of his vehicle and rammed into the waiting crowd. A few people gave up the ghost in the tragedy. The baby and some others, who sustained varying degrees of injuries, were rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, while some were taken to Adeoyo State Hospital, also in Ibadan.
Mr Olalekan Adeleke, Assistant Director, Medical Social Services, UCH, told Saturday Tribune that three children with three adults were brought to the hospital. Of this number, he said: “We lost one of the children on the first day. Later that Saturday night, we also lost one woman. In the early hours of Sunday, July 30, we lost a female child and another woman”.
The hospital could not ascertain who Ajoke’s mother was. Even the name ‘Ajoke’ is a mere tag and not the girl’s real name. Mr Adeleke explained: “We were unable to confirm the identity of the victims. We didn’t have access to their phones and luggage for us to get needed information that could link us with their family members and loved ones. We sent officials of the medical social services to the police in the state to see if we could link up with their family members through their phones but they told us that those concerned had retrieved their belongings from the police”.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, Mr Adekunle Ajisebutu, who confirmed the incident, explained that the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, one Usman Ismaila, had since been arraigned in court.
He added: “Victims’ phones were actually recovered and later released on bond to their relations. Meanwhile, the accident vehicle is still in our custody.”
He said that the police would do everything possible to help in linking the 3-month-old-girl to her family.
Although, little Ajoke was not intentionally abandoned by her parents like many mothers who deliberately dump their children because of social, health or economic reasons, no family member has come for her since July 29 when the accident happened despite all attempts to link her up with her family.
Adeleke lamented that like Ajoke, many children have been cut off from their family members either as a result of accident or having been abandoned by their mothers for personal reasons.
Abandoned or lost?
One continues to wonder whether Anuoluwapo Amosun (barely 6-year-old) and her brother, Samuel (about 4-year-old) were abandoned by their parents or lost their way. The duo were interviewed by kindhearted Nigerians who came to their aid while wandering with a Ghana-must-go bag. They were unable to give a satisfactory response when asked where they were coming from and their destination.
Information from the office of the Social Welfare Services, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State shows that they were found around 7am at Sofola Street Sabo area, Sagamu, Ogun State on May 23 this year and efforts at uniting them with their family proved abortive.
Whereas the birth of a child is a thing of joy to most women and the barren would stop at nothing at ensuring that she conceives and bears a child. Adeleke said it was ironical that some people throw away babies. Among other reasons, he said a baby could be unwanted because of its physical or health challenges or because the child is illegitimate or due to extreme cases of poverty. He said: “Some mothers dump their own babies out of desperation in rare but extreme circumstances for reasons best known to them”.
One of the extreme cases happened some weeks ago at Popoyemoja area in Ibadan, where a day-old baby boy was found. Efforts by residents of the area to trace his parents and link him back to his family proved abortive. A resident of the area lamented that the mother must have dumped him at the place shortly after she was delivered of the baby. Findings showed that the cry of the newborn, in a wrapper, attracted passersby who converged to know what went wrong. When it became clear to all that the mother must have deliberately abandoned the baby, some of the eyewitnesses took him to the Social Welfare Office, Ibadan Ibarapa Zone, Onireke, Ibadan on August 9, 2018 for documentation and care. He is still there.
In another case, a boy of about two years old, named Justice Hope Amosun was allegedly deliberately abandoned by his mother at Arigbabu Street near Ijamido Hall, opposite Ansarudeen Grammar School, Ota, Ogun State on July 25, 2018. The circumstances surrounding the case of another baby girl called Precious was dramatic and pitiable. She was reportedly brought to the Home on June 28, 2018 by her three elder sisters. The girl was said to be sick at the time she was brought in. Officials of the Home said they were shocked when they discovered that her elder sisters abandoned the three-month-old-girl and disappeared into thin air. All efforts to track her sisters were abortive.
Residents of Aretedo community Bodija, Ibadan were embarrassed to see a boy of about three years loitering in front of a building in the neighbourhood two years ago. Out of curiousity, some of the residents reportedly went from house to house to ascertain who the parents were but the attempts ended in futility. The boy was unable to provide vital information that could lead eyewitnesses to the whereabouts of his parents. Without much ado, they took the young boy to the social welfare office, Ibadan/Ibarapa zonal Social Welfare Office, Onireke GRA, Ibadan. Two years after, officials of the home said nobody has come to claim the young boy.
A female cleric, Evangelist Shekinah Ogunjale, who expressed shock at the prevalence of abandoned children, warned that those involved in the act were risking the anger of God.
He said: “Women that dump babies are dumping treasures from God. They should stop this act. What they need to do is pray for forgiveness to God, the creator of heaven and earth who created all things. Women who are into this act should realise that they survived their own childhood by God’s grace not by their strength, wisdom or knowledge.
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“What could have become of such women if they were abandoned by their own mothers shortly after birth? It might not have been a smooth road for them. I, therefore, urge whoever is involved in such practice to desist. They should acknowledge the fact that they had sinned and desist from the ungodly way. Just as adultery and fornication can attract the anger of God, dumping of babies can also attract God’s anger. Most abandoned children don’t survive the test of time because they lack self-esteem; their emotion would have been badly trampled and this is not in line with the thought of God for man. No human being is expected to raise a child that would not be taken care of.”
A Consultant Pediatrician in Neonatology, Dr Adejumoke Ayede, who frowned at incessant cases of abandonment of babies, said the practice is ridiculous and unhealthy, adding: “Some babies are abandoned as early as a day old. If the baby’s cord is not properly taken care of, it can bleed from the cord if not well tied. Such babies are prone to neo-natal tetanus, neo-natal infections and hypoglycemia. An abandoned child might become dehydrated if not fed for a long time. The baby can die as a result of abandonment if it is prolonged. If the baby is rehabilitated, it can experience maternal deprivation. Worse still, the baby will not have access to breast milk and this is very essential for nutrients”.
Ayede urged parents to keep adolescents under watch to know if they are manifesting any strange physiological development saying: “A lot of parents are not aware whether their teenage girls are pregnant or not. A thing like this can increase cases of abandoned children. Pre-marital sex should be discouraged as much as possible and where it is difficult to do so, protected sex should be encouraged. Reproductive health issue should be discussed and children and wards should be educated on the implication of pre-marital sex at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.
“Sadly, the social media is encouraging negative reproductive issues. The types of movies you see on the television promote sexual perversion. We need to look into these. Some countries still try to control what is being broadcast but Nigeria is a bit porous; even most of the advertisements that we see promote sexual promiscuity. It is sad that the environment is very conducive for sexual misbehavior.
“In my ward presently, I have teenage mothers. The last case that I managed was that of a 19years old lady. That case is even fair. We have 16-year-old-girls and 15 at times”.
The PPRO, Osun State Command, Osogbo, Mrs Folashade Odoro, described as unlawful the act of abandoning babies. Querying the rationale behind making a baby when not really ready for the responsibility of parenting, she said such a practice should be discouraged and heartless individuals that engage in the act should be penalized.
Although, she said that situations where babies were abandoned were not prevalent in the Osun State Command, she maintained that the high level of sexual promiscuity in the society was one of the factors responsible for accidental parenting and reported cases of abandonment of children.
Odoro said: “One wonders what could make any lady decide to throw away her own baby. If one is not ready to have a child why should one engage in unprotected sex? It is sad that we have strange reports nowadays. My advice to people who see abandoned children is that they should take such babies to social welfare centres. That is the right place to take abandoned children. Rather than dump your babies and then expose them to danger, you can take them to the nearest welfare centres.”
Adeleke said there were several cases of children who were abandoned or who became lonely as a result of accident. He said the welfare unit of UCH offers clinical services, “When people who see abandoned children suspect that the babies have medical challenges they always bring them here. We admit such babies at the Otunba Tunwase Children Emergency Ward at UCH. There the pediatrician will examine them to know if they have medical challenges or not.
“We have a standard procedure in which the social worker is communicated where there is need for medical intervention for abandoned children. The social workers would, in turn, contact the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee through the head of department for permission to give such a child free medical treatment. We are on hand to intervene but we earnestly advise that the incessant dumping of babies should be discouraged”.
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