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
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