Police arrest mother of abandoned baby in Ondo

Operatives of the Ondo State police command have arrested the mother of a three-month baby found abandoned in Ugbe Akoko area in Akoko-North-East Local Government Area of the state.

The mother of the baby identified as Monsurat Arogundade was arrested some 24 hours after abandoning the baby but failed to give reasons for throwing the baby away.

It was gathered that the cry of the baby attracted some residents of the area who took the baby to the police station and hospital.

An eyewitness said two community leaders from the area, Alhaji Lanre Kazeem and Captain Olu Oyepata (retd), took the baby to the police station.

The source said it was a young girl who was passing through the area who spotted the baby wrapped with cloth but was only wearing diaper and pants, “and she called the attention of the elders to the development.”

ALSO READ: Another petrol tanker falls in Onitsha

The two community leaders were directed and accompanied by the police to the hospital, where the baby was handed over to the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ikare-Akoko Specialist Hospital.

An official of the hospital who confirmed the development said the baby had been handed over to officials of the social welfare and transferred to Akure, the state capital.

He disclosed that the baby was handed over to the hospital’s welfare committee who took custody of the baby and contacted social welfare officers in the local government area before transferring the baby to Akure.

However, a resident of the community who confirmed the arrest of the mother of the baby said she has been assisting the police in their investigation.

He said the 33-year-old lady was impregnated by her lover but denied the paternity of the baby girl.