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.
The mother, 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.
City Round 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.
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.
