Good Samaritan disappears with
week-old baby
JOS —  A health worker in Bokkos Local Government
Area of Plateau State is on the run after allegedly
stealing a one-week old baby from her mother while
posing to be a well wisher. The suspect (name withheld) was reported to have
disappeared with the baby whom she offered to carry
while the mother’s stitches were being removed at the
clinic. The mother had been delivered of the baby
through Caesarian section a week before. A family member said the suspect had visited the
house with new clothes for the baby and later offered
to accompany the mother who was on her way to the
clinic to remove her stitches. The unsuspecting mother agreed to go with her and
left her child with the fleeing suspect as she went in
to be attended to at the clinic. However, the suspect
had disappeared with the baby by the time she was
through. She reportedly asked those around of the
whereabouts of the woman but no one had any useful
information. She eventually raised alarm and people
joined in the search for the suspect but she was
nowhere to be found. The theft of the baby has thrown the family and the
area into despair with many describing the incident as
strange in the area. Interim Administrator of Bokkos Local Government,
Mrs. Hanatu Dantong has, meanwhile, visited the
family to sympathise with them, promising to work
with security men for the recovery of the missing
baby. According to her, “this thing affects the whole of us.
There is no way we will sit down in office and say we
don’t have anything to do with the case. This thing is
not good for our image, that is why we came
immediately the matter got to us to sympathize with
the family.” She called for prayers towards the recovery of the
baby and advised parents to be wary of people who
come around posing as friends as they might have
evil intentions. Father of the stolen baby, Mr. Mahana Zachariah,
said it was shocking that someone would be so
heartless to steal a week old baby, adding:  “I hear
this type of stories and read about them but now it
has happened in my house.”