Wife of Anambra State Governor, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano has advised young mothers not to throw away their newborn babies because of their temporary financial or social challenge.
Mrs. Obiano who is the founder of the NGO, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFE), was reacting in Awka to a recent report about a newborn baby thrown away by a young mother at Oko in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
On Friday, 6th of March, 2020, the newborn baby was found hanging from barbed wire in a hostel at Oko with the baby’s placenta still intact.
The mother, one Onyinye Ugochukwu aged 21 who is a student of Federal Polytechnic Oko, had allegedly gone into labour in the toilet, delivered the baby girl an thrown her through the window and left.
When questioned, she said she abandoned her baby because she does not know the biological father.
Reacting to the development, Mrs. Obiano entreated such mothers to ensure that the otherwise ‘unwanted’ babies keep adequately warm and placed at accessible places where they can be found, recovered and duly catered for.
According to her, “This is truly unpleasant news. I can’t imagine such a desperate act at a time when many families are earnestly searching for the fruit of the womb. Please let it be known that rather than wasting their lives, many good Nigerians and CAFE are ready to assist and get such babies to appropriate orphanages.”
The governor’s wife expressed relief that the recovered baby is now stable and responding to treatment.
She also cautioned against recurrence, counseling those thinking along that line to desist and do the right thing.
