Edo IDP Discovers Two-day Old Baby Dumped at Camp Entrance
Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
A baby suspected to be two days old was found dumped within the premises of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, in Uhogua, near Benin, in Ovia South West Local Government Area, Edo State.
The Coordinator of the IDP, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho disclosed this at a session with journalists yesterday, saying the baby was in dire need of breastfeeding.
Folorunsho noted that an unknown person dumped the baby at the camp’s woods, which is an entrance into the camp on Friday at about 11:00 a.m.
He said that the baby, presently under medical care at the camp health facility, was dumped by the person with a note.
He said: “We discovered the baby who is about a day or two old at our woods on the entrance into the camp. The baby was dumped with a note which read ‘please help me take care of him. I cannot take care of him because I do not have anything. I do not want to kill him either. So, he is your own please.”
The coordinator said that the development had been reported to relevant authorities as well as security agencies in the state, namely the Ministry of Women Affairs, Police and the Department of State Service (DSS).
Consequently, Folorunsho appealed to the mother of the child to be confident enough to come out, saying the child “is in need of breastfeeding. I encourage the mother of the child to come out and not be afraid, if not for anything so that the baby can be given breast milk, while we solicit support for them.
“Or we could mobilise to raise and rent a house for her (mother), help with food and other things, since she said the reason for her action is because she cannot take care of the child.
“If she has support, I am sure she will be able to take care of the baby. If the woman will be there, we will be supporting the child.
“But in the absence of that, we are ready to take care of the child and train him like other children here, because some children we have here were brought in quite young, though this is the youngest.”
Folorunsho also appealed to well meaning Nigerians “to assist the child with baby clothes, food and other nutrition items. While we take care of this child with the nurses we have here and our staff, we appeal to well meaning Nigerians to assist the child.
“Because we definitely need help in terms of baby clothes, baby food, and other nutritious things the child needs,” he said. The mother of the child must have dumped him because of the confidence that the camp takes good care of all babies in their possession.
“The way we care for children here, I think the news is everywhere. Everybody knows us and how we are able to take care of children. We bring them up well morally, educationally, upkeep and everything. I believe she is somebody that knows us, or somebody told her about us.”
