An auxiliary nurse, identified only as Oyekanmi, has been
arrested by the police for her role in the death of a baby
she took delivery of in the Odogunyan, Ikorodu area of
Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim’s mother, Adeola,
had been taken to Oyekanmi’s residence last Saturday
when she went into labour.
Oyekanmi, while attempting to force the delivery, was
said to have pulled off the baby’s hand.
She was said to have advised that the child be taken to
the Ikorodu General Hospital, where the dead child was
finally delivered.
Doctors at the hospital were reported to have queried the
baby’s parents on what truly transpired, and they opened
up.
The hospital management then alerted the police to the
incident.
A source said Oyekanmi was picked up by the police.
The source said, “What happened was that the auxiliary
nurse tried to deliver the woman of the baby, during
which there was a complication. But she continued and in
the end, the hand of the baby was pulled off while she
tried to force the child out from the mother’s womb.
“Afterwards, they quickly packed the woman together and
brought her to the general hospital. It had become a
critical case by then. The remains of the dead child were
brought out, while the matter was reported to the police.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos,
confirmed the incident, adding that investigations were
ongoing.
She said, “The doctor at the hospital discovered that
something was amiss after taking a close look at the
dead child and seeing that one hand had been pulled off.
All the parties were invited to make statements. It is a
case of infanticide; investigations are ongoing.”
The spokesperson for the state’s Ministry of Health,
Adeola Salako, promised to get back to our
correspondent, but she had yet to do so as of press time.
