The police in Kwara State have commenced an investigation into the disappearance of the umbilical cord and placenta of a newborn baby at Government Cottage Hospital, Iloffa in the Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the state.
Five employees of the medical facility, including a medical doctor, are now in police custody, the spokesperson of the command, DSP Ejire Adeyemi Toun, confirmed this to newsmen on Saturday.
She said, “The unfortunate incident of the missing umbilical cord is true, discreet investigation is ongoing at the state criminal investigation department, further details will be communicated to you upon its conclusion.”
The traumatised mother of the baby, identified as Mrs C. Williams, a class teacher at Orota Secondary School, Odo-Owa, was reported to have had the child on Sunday night but was not given the umbilical cord and the placenta by the hospital’s workers.
JomogNews learnt that five of the workers were later arrested in connection with the missing parts and were being detained by the general Investigation unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command in Ilorin.
The suspects detained by the police include a resident doctor, three nurses and a ward attendant at the hospital.
It was gathered that the police were invited when efforts to settle the controversy at various levels failed.
It was further gathered that it took the efforts of elders of Odo-Owa community to calm some angry youths who suspected foul play and were about to burn down the hospital on Tuesday over the incident.
Mrs Williams, while narrating her ordeal, said that she was rushed to the hospital while experiencing labour pains on Sunday afternoon and gave birth to a baby at about 7 pm the same day.
“I was feeling some labour pains on Sunday and I got to the cottage hospital, some minutes past 1 pm on Sunday, and told the nurse I met on duty that I was having contractions; she was the one that attended to me after confirming that I was truly in labour.
“She took me into the labour room and asked me to wait because I still had more time. Not quite long after I came, the doctor also came in and instructed the nurse to usher me into the labour room,” she said.
She said that after having the baby, the following morning, she was discharged and allowed to go home.
She, however, said that the hospital workers gave her a bag containing her items but did not give her the placenta and the umbilical cord of the baby when they asked her to go home.
“Although they handed a black nylon bag to me, I discovered that there were two missing items inside the nylon; they are the umbilical cord and the placenta,” she said.
“Some of their staff started telling me they were sorry that there was a mistake. The attendant said she had thrown the placenta inside a pit but they could not find it suggesting a dog might have eaten it.
“That was when I flared up with some members of my church who were also present that it’s not possible that they just have to present the placenta”.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, confirmed the incident, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
“The police are investigating the incident and five suspects have been arrested in connection with it,” the PPRO said.
