…toddler responding to treatment
By Adebayo Olodan
A five-day old baby infested with maggots after being reportedly abandoned by her mother was rescued by the men of the โFโ Division Police Station, Tanke, Ilorin on Friday.
The baby was reportedly abandoned beside Ifedamola Secondary School, Taoheed Road, Tanke area, Ilorin, for about three days before being rescued by policemen.
Following her rescue, a policeman from the โFโ Division, was said to have brought the baby to the Kwara State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
The baby was thereafter taken to the General Hospital, Ilorin were she is receiving treatment.ย ย Speaking on the incident at the weekend, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Toibat Ahmed, expressed dismay over the rate at which child abandonment is increasing on daily basis in the state, adding that proper family planning is the only solution to the ugly trend.
ย Hajia Ahmed, who was at the General Hospital, Ilorin at the weekend to check on the abandoned baby expressed her delight that the toddler was responding to treatment reiterating that it is imperative for young couples in the country to embrace family planning.
ย โAs mothers, it came to us as a rude shock to see someone abandon her baby after carrying her for nine months. But for the intervention of policemen from the โFโ Division, the baby may have died as a result of the maggots that have taken over all her body after being abandoned for about three days,โ the Commissioner stated.
Speaking further, Hajia Ahmed said upon the handing over of the baby to the ministry, she was immediately taken to the General Hospital, Ilorin for proper medical attention in which all the bills would be footed by the state government.
She added that the baby would be transferred to the Children Rehabilitation Centre after she may have completed her treatment.
The Commissioner however, appreciated the state government for providing the funds needed for the medical bills of the child.
Meanwhile, a staff of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Adetutu Yemisi Bello will keep vigil at the hospital monitoring the babyโs recovery.
