Uproar as 6-month-old baby dies at Abuja creche over negligence

A Nigerian mum has call out a day care in Abuja over the death of her 6 months old baby.

The mother of the baby, Rebecca Onoja, had reported the Britmax International School, Lokogoma, Abuja, at the Divisional Police Station, Apo, for alleged negligence leading to the death of Michelle.

She alleged that the Investigating Police Officer, Arome, was attempting to sweep the case under the carpet.

Rebecca claimed that the policeman urged her to forget about the matter and forgive the school.

The matter became public knowledge when a lawyer, Ocholi Okutepa, made a Facebook post that Rebecca had dropped her daughter at the day care facility of the school on January 11, 2019, hale and hearty, but she was called by the secretary later in the day to come over to the school. He said

She wrote “On the 11th of January 2019, at about 8am, 6 months old Baby Michelle was dropped at the creche ( Britmax international school, Abuja). At the time of dropping her, there was nothing wrong with her as she was hale and hearty.

At about 2:18pm, the mother received a call from the school and heard the voice of a man telling her to come to the school. She immediately got to the school which is 3 houses away from her house in the estate. When she got there, she saw about 5 women praying over michelle in the bed and asked what the matter was but nobody was giving her any response.

When she carried her baby, she noticed blood stains on her nose and food particles around her hair and nostrils. She became seriously agitated and wondered what could have resulted to the blood stains on her daughter’s body. She tried sucking out whatever was the blockage but realized that the best thing was to rush her to the hospital.

At the point of entering the car, someone made a remark that is it not the hospital they just returned from, she was shocked. The baby has passed away. The result of the autopsy indicated that Baby Michelle died as a result of asphyxiation.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force, has expressed its readiness to probe the alleged plot by one of its men, identified simply as Arome, to cover up the death of a six-month-old baby girl, Michelle Onoja.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Anjuguri Manzah, confirmed the incident, adding that investigation was ongoing. “Investigation is ongoing in the case, which means that nobody can cover it up; the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department,” he stated.

The Head, Complaints Response Unit, Nigeria Police Force, Abayomi Sogunle, said in order to establish a case of misconduct against the policeman, the parents would have to make a formal complaint against him.

“The parents can direct their complaints to our unit through any of our platforms and a tracking number will be sent to them, which will be used to follow up on the case,” he added.