By Ismail Auwal
Lagos State Police Command has arrested one Tina Ogbonnaya for allegedly starving a five-month-old baby to death.
Mrs. Ogbonnaya allegedly took the baby from her 19-year-old maid due to unpaid debt.
According to Harrison Gwamnishu, the founder of Behind Bar Rights Initiative (BBI), Mrs. Ogbonnaya’s maid, Tina, reported that she was unable to repay a sum of N200,000 that her boss paid as hospital bills when her baby was born.
Tina reported that Mrs. Ogbonnaya was mistreating her after the delivery, and she decided to leave the house, but her madam refused to let her go until she paid the debt.
Mrs. Ogbonnaya, she claimed, took her baby, Chidubem, and pushed her out of the house.
Attempts to recover the baby were futile because he had been held by Mrs. Ogbonnaya for over a month without being fed.
The maid, who reported the matter to the police at the first instance, said the police initially took no steps, but she was able to get back the baby through the intervention of the Lagos State Social Welfare and the police.
She said the baby was returned to her ‘half-dead’. She shared the pictures of the baby before his seizure and after.
Mr Gwamnishu, the founder of BBI, who raised awareness on the issue on his social media handles, called for help for the baby before his death.
The baby passed on while receiving treatment at the Ajah Mother and Child Hospital, on Saturday.
Mrs Ogbonnaya is being detained at the Ajah police division, the BBI director confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES.
(PREMIUM TIMES)