Officials attached to the Gender-Based Violence Response Team of the Vicar Hope Foundation Umuahia; a foundation of the First Lady of Abia State, Deaconess Nkechi Ikpeazu has rescued a 2-year-old child that was reportedly locked up for several days in an uncompleted building.
The said uncompleted building, according to reports is located at Zone 5 Agbama Housing Estate Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that the baby boy is suspected to have been abandoned at the building by a woman suspected to be his mother.
The little child whose name could not be ascertained at the time of rescue had become exhausted, dehydrated and malnourished after going for several hours, perhaps several days on end without food.
According to the Programme Manager of the Vicar Hope Foundation, Mr. Raymond Ukwa, the foundation had received an SOS call in the afternoon of Saturday 25th of April from landlords and neighbours around the uncompleted building with the information that a small child had been locked up in an un-inhabitable dwelling.
Mr. Ukwa said working in line with well-established protocols on intervention, the Vicar Hope Foundation swiftly reported the incident to the Umuahia Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Mr. Ekeinde Odion who detailed officers to break into the building so that the almost lifeless child could be rescued.
“As a foundation we believe in creating a safe environment for our children, a lot of deaths of children every year occur because of negligence and preventable diseases, it’s our duty to ensure we reduce these numbers and protect the right to life of every child”, said Mr. Ukwa.
Neighbours around the vicinity of the building who spoke up during the rescue operation told newsmen that the parent of the child usually locks away the little child for days on end without food or water and revealed that they sometimes throw in crumbs of food for the baby through a crack in the wall of the building.
Confirming the incident, the Assistant Secretary Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Mr. Chika Ojiegbe said the child was resuscitated, examined by medical personnel and has been taken to a safe dwelling while relevant authorities have begun investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of the baby.
As at press time, the supposed mother who had locked her away the child was yet to show up, more than twenty-four hours after the incident.
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Nigerian Girls Guide Association Mrs. Queen Nwarie has commended the Founder of Vicar Hope Foundation, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu for rescuing the little child.
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In a message to the Founder, Mrs. Nwarie said the quick response of the GBV desk of Mrs. Ikpeazu’s Foundation had made the difference between life and death for the toddler and commended several humanitarian activities Mrs. Ikpeazu has carried out through her foundation that has restored life and given hope to numerous Abians.
