Residents of Karaworo Street in Lokoja, Kogi State, were left in shock on Wednesday morning after a day-old baby boy was discovered abandoned in a drainage near the Kutepa Juma’at Mosque.
An eyewitness, Talatu Ibrahim, a 45-year-old resident, found the baby after hearing his cries. Speaking to Newsmen, Ibrahim recounted the moment she discovered the infant in the gutter beside her window.
“I heard the cry of a baby around 5 a.m. this morning. When I ran outside, I found a newly born baby boy dumped in the gutter beside my window,” she explained.
Ibrahim immediately raised an alarm, drawing the attention of neighbours, who rushed to the scene and took the baby to an elderly woman living nearby for immediate care.
Muhammed Abubakar, the founder of MOHAB People’s Care Foundation, who arrived at the scene shortly after, stated that efforts to trace the baby’s mother had been unsuccessful. “We tried to locate the mother, but all efforts proved abortive,” Abubakar said.
The incident was reported to the Kogi State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, and officials were promptly dispatched to the area. The baby was later taken into custody by ministry officials for proper care.
The discovery has raised concerns in the Karaworo community as residents continue to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the baby’s abandonment.
The ministry is expected to handle the infant’s welfare while authorities investigate the incident further.
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