Police grill matron, nurse as newborn vanishes in Kogi clinic

A mother of two, Mrs Laruba Dirisu, didn’t bargain for what she got after she was delivered of a baby at a private clinic in Ayingba, Kogi State, last Sunday.

When she went into labour at about 7am that day, her husband took her to Peniel Maternity and Clinic, Ayingba, Kogi State, where she had her two other children. But no sooner had she given birth that the baby vanished into thin air. To compound her misery, the nurse who attended to her, claimed that she was unaware of how it happened.

According to SUNDAY PUNCH, the new mother said she went into labour on Sunday morning when her husband took her to the hospital where it was revealed that it was time for her to give birth.

She stated, “My husband went home to bring some of the things needed for my delivery but before he arrived, I had given birth. When I was delivered of the baby, it was one of mummy’s (proprietor of the maternity) clothes that was used to wrap my baby.  When my husband came back with his mother to the hospital, he was very happy to see our new baby.

“After I gave birth, I noticed that I started bleeding. So mummy checked me and gave me injection. Later, she put drip (intravenous fluids) in my body before the bleeding subsided. When the bleeding subsided, mummy told the nurse (Rebecca) on duty that the bleeding was because the baby was big.

“She told the nurse to look after me and the baby so that she could go and take a bath since all her body was soaked with blood. When mummy left the room, the nurse checked me as instructed. In the process of checking me, she told me that I should turn my back so that she could clean the blood. When I turned facing down on the bed, the nurse went inside the room where my baby was.

“My room was different from my baby’s. When I turned my back, I saw a woman wearing hijab entering inside the room where my baby was kept and the nurse was inside the room with the baby.”

Laruba explained that since she didn’t have much strength, having lost much blood, she merely glanced at the direction of the room the hijab-wearing woman entered thinking she wanted to speak with the nurse.

She added that a few minutes later, she was informed that her baby girl was missing.

She said, “When we discovered that the baby was missing, my mother-in-law, whom the nurse sent on an errand alongside my husband to get some clothing, asked her about my baby but she could not give any explanation.”

According to her, her husband’s sister also asked the nurse for the baby’s whereabouts and she responded that nobody should ask her anything.

Laruba alleged that the nurse started abusing her mother-in-law and sister-in-law before the matter was reported to the police who came to arrest her.

She stated, “I did not see the woman with the hijab when she was coming out of the room but I saw her when she was going in. I was very unconscious, so suspecting anything at that time would be difficult. This kind of incident has never happened in the hospital.

“I want my baby back and nothing else. The nurse should find my baby for me. I suffered for nine months to carry my baby. She knows the woman that took my baby; so, she should find her and give me my baby.”