Detained guardians deny seizing five-month-old baby over hospital bill, say teenage mother neglected child for clubbing

A Lagos-based couple, Mr and Mrs Oti Ugbonaya, has denied seizing a five-month-old baby from the teenage mother, Gift Nwafor, over unpaid hospital bill.

The couple alleged that Nwafor, who was their maid, abandoned her baby and went clubbing, leaving the child to suffer malnourishment which culminated in the eventual death of the baby.

The guardians, now detained at the Divisional Police Station Ajah, spoke in an exclusive interview over the weekend.

Photos of a dark, emaciated baby had gone viral days ago, with many social media users and activists including Harrison Gwamnishu of a non-governmental organisation, Behind Bars, accusing the guardians of seizing the baby from the mother and denying the child of nutritional needs till death.

But the couple, who has since been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, denied the allegations.

According to them, they brought the 18-year-old from a village in Abia State on January 20, 2021, to babysit their toddler and serve as a housemaid only to discover that she was pregnant.

“She (Nwafor) told me she was pregnant and I told her that someone who is pregnant cannot work effectively as a maid and cannot take care of my baby. She then asked me to help her abort the pregnancy but I declined and promised to take care of the baby after delivery,” Mrs Ugbonaya said.

“She gave birth on June 11, 2021 and the baby was very healthy. We took her to three hospitals before she was delivered of the baby,” Mrs Ugbonaya added.

However, Mrs Ugbonaya said less than a month after putting to bed, Nwafor said she was going back to the village in Abia State to sit for her West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

“She (Nwafor) refused to take the baby along with her to the village saying she doesn’t want people to know she gave birth but I told her that people will know later in the future. I told her, This is your child and you have to feed her with your breasts but she said, No, there are lots of people who had baby and did not breastfeed them and the baby survived on baby food.

“She stayed one month in the village. She went July ending but later she called back and said the village was dry (not exciting) and she wanted to come back,” Mrs Ugbonaya narrated.

Mrs Ugbonaya alleged that upon the teenage mother’s return, she left the house for clubbing and stayed at a brothel.

“She left the house because I showed neighbours what Chichi (alias for Nwafor) was doing to the child. I told them she denied the baby food and go out clubbing. Many of them tried to call her to order but she told them she was tired. I told her, See what you are doing to this baby; she is like skeleton, why are you denying the child food?

“At a point, my husband told her to leave with her things if she wanted to continue to deny the baby breast milk. But immediately, she left with her belongings but left the child. We searched for her everywhere but couldn’t find her. I took the baby to a nurse who told me the baby was gaunt because of lack of food,” she said.

The teenage mother, who also spoke denied the allegations by her guardians, saying they sent her out without her baby and told her she could only claim custody of the child if she paid N5m medical fee.

Mrs Ugbonaya, however, said she never held the baby hostage because of hospital bill though she and her husband spent some money on the health of the baby.

“She is not working. I didn’t tell her to bring any money. I told her on the phone to come and take the baby. Every morning by 6am, I will take the baby to the hospital for treatment. I still owe N10, 000 hospital fee.

“I told her to pay me back the hospital bills when she starts working. I told her to pay back anytime she is buoyant. I didn’t seize any child, I was the one who begged her to come and take the child because I was tired,” Mrs Ugbonaya said.

Also speaking, Mr Ugbonaya alleged that Nwafor lived a wayward life in the village and abandoned her baby in Lagos to continue with the same life in the city.

“I asked her almost 100 times and she said she said she did not know the particular person responsible for the pregnancy. I scolded her for opening her legs to all sorts of men,” Mr Ugbonaya said.

However, Nwafor refuted the allegations, saying her guardians maltreated her and sent out of the house. She also said the father of the dead baby is in Abuja and is aware of the development.

The couple appealed to the police to free them, saying they were innocent. “We helped her (Nwafor) and she ought not to pay us back this way, this is very painful,” they said.

On her part, Nwafor called on the public to help her with a job so as to fend for herself and move on with life.

(The PUNCH)