Despite the establishment of a centre, “Mothers Against Child Abandonment” [MACA] by the wife of the Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Imoke, a yet to be identified mother last Wednesday in Calabar killed and abandoned her baby in a bush.
The dead baby boy was found behind the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital [UCTH] medical Students Hostel on Moore Road, Calabar, ironically besides the office of the Governor’s wife.
The incident created a spectacle within the hostel and Mrs. Imoke’s office as curious onlookers trooped to behold the baby whose umbilical cord was still intact where they rained curses on the unidentified mother and at the same time asking God why He should allow such an unprepared mothers to conceive when millions were out there looking for children.
Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Health/NGO and Special Projects, Dr. Regina Ejemot-Nwadiaro who rushed to the scene, said her attention was drawn to the incident by an anonymous caller and that when she confirmed the story, immediately called the Calabar Urban Development Authority (CUDA) who subsequently alerted the Police.
She condemned the dastardly act as "callous, inhuman and outright wickedness", adding: “It is thus disheartening that in spite of the consistent efforts by Mrs. Imoke and the MACA team, people could still dump babies”.
Nwadiaro explained that the main goal of MACA was to prevent teenage pregnancy and child abandonment and ultimately to save lives and called on the public to avail themselves of the services MACA as its ultimate goal is to contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals especially as it concerns Child and Maternal Mortality.
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