By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Kwara State Police Command has commenced a discreet investigation into the mysterious disappearance of umbilical cord and placenta of a newly born baby at Government Cottage Hospital, Iloffa in Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the state last Sunday.

A woman identified as Mrs C. B. A. Williams, a Class Teacher at Orota Secondary School, Odo-Owa in the Oke-Ero council area reportedly gave birth to a baby on Sunday night while the umbilical cord and the placenta were yet to be given to her by the hospital workers as at the time of this report

Five health workers who are suspects in the matter are currently being detained by the General Investigation Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department of the command in Ilorin.

The suspects detained by the police late Thursday afternoon after interrogation included one Dr. Ajibola, a resident doctor in the hospital, and three nurses identified as Rukayat Adeloye, Aishat Awolusi, and Peace Alabi as well as Toyin Adewumi, a ward attendant at the hospital.

The police were later involved when efforts to settle the controversy at various layers of hierarchies in the local government failed.

It was further gathered that it took spirited efforts of elders of the Odo-Owa community to calm the fray nerves of restive youths who suspected foul play and were about to burn down the hospital on Tuesday over the incident.

It was gathered that Mrs Williams delivered her baby at the hospital on Sunday night at about 7 pm after hours of labour.

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 7pm the same day.

“I was feeling some labour pains on Sunday and I got to the Cottage hospital, some minutes past 1pm on Sunday, and told the particular Nurse Adeloye 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.

“In the course of the delivery, it was one nurse Alabi who took the delivery, and nurse Adeloye and the Ward Attendant identified as Mrs Toyin were the three people present.

She said that she delivered the baby and was in the hospital till the following morning before she was discharged and allowed to go to her home.

She, however, said that the hospital workers gave her a nylon containing her personal items but did not give her the placenta and the umbilical cord of the baby when they asked her to go home.

“Though they handed a black nylon bag to me I discovered that there are two missing items inside the nylon; those are the umbilical cord and the placenta,” she said.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State Police Command, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, confirmed the incident, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

“The police are investigating the incident and five suspects have been arrested in connection with it, an investigation is still ongoing,” the PPRO said.

Punch