The Edo State Police Command has arrested a 46-year-old quack doctor, identified as Osaze Okungbowa, following the disappearance of a newborn at a private health facility.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, said the baby’s mother, Princess Oke, reported the incident to the police, alleging that the baby she delivered under Okungbowa’s care mysteriously disappeared from the clinic.
The suspect allegedly absconded after the incident but was tracked down and arrested by the police two weeks later.
The commissioner added that efforts were ongoing to recover the baby.
Speaking with journalists, the suspect admitted that he was not a qualified medical doctor, saying he had only received training as an auxiliary nurse.
“I worked as a manager at a private hospital where both qualified and unqualified personnel were employed,” he said.
Okungbowa claimed he did not personally conduct the delivery because he was ill on the day the woman arrived at the facility.
“I invited another nurse to assist with the delivery. The baby later developed complications because it was born prematurely and was being taken to a hospital with an incubator when it d!ed.
“The baby was not feeling fine, so I was asked to take the child to a hospital where there was an incubator. While taking the baby there, it d!ed. We later buried the baby at an Anglican cemetery,” he said.
Okungbowa denied allegations that he sold the baby, insisting that the child d!ed before reaching the hospital and was subsequently buried.
However, the baby’s mother, Princess Oke, disputed his account, alleging that her baby was sold because the child was not born prematurely.
She said Okungbowa induced her labour at about 11am on the day she arrived at the clinic.
“A midwife later asked me to come to their house for the delivery. After I gave birth, I heard my baby cry before I became unconscious.
“When I woke up, I saw only the placenta. The doctor had disappeared. I was later told my baby had d!ed, but I don’t believe that. They claimed my baby was premature, but how can a baby delivered after 35 weeks of pregnancy be described as premature?” she asked.
She appealed to the police to help recover her baby, insisting that the child had been sold.
Agbonika assured that the suspect would be charged in court, while efforts were ongoing to arrest another suspect who remains at large.