By CrossRiverWatch Admin
The Community Health Officer in charge of the primary health facility in Katchuan Irruan, Boki Local government in central Cross River state, Helen Bankong and her colleague, Theresa Odu, have been arrested by detectives from the Okundi division over the theft of a new born baby they delivered in the facility.
The Director General of the state Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Betta Edu, told CrossRiverWatch that the duo delivered a baby girl at the primary health center in katchuan Irruan and took the baby to Idum Mbube, without the consent of the baby’s mother.
CrossRiverWatch gathered that the two nurses drugged the young mother of the child in the labor ward on Thursday, stole her baby and lied to her when she regained conciousness that the baby had died.
The nurses however ran out of luck when the woman’s family members insisted on seeing the dead baby or where she was buried.
The matter was said to have been promptly reported to the DG of the Primary Health Agency who later invited detectives to interrogate the nurses.
Upon interrogation, the baby was later recovered at Idum Mbube, Ogoja LGA from a woman who bought her from the nurses.
The two nurses and their client who bought the baby are now in police custody and the DG of the Primary Health Agency has vowed that they will be dealt with according to the law.
She said the Agency will not tolerate any act of illegality from any if it’s staff talkless of trafficking babies.
“I am monitoring the situation to ensure that even if anyone tries to solicit on their behalf or go to the Police to help them escape justice, that person will go in for it. We cannot tolerate these kinds of acts in the Agency and characters like these should be locked up in jail.” She said.
When our reporter contacted that the spokesperson of the police in the state, Irene Ugbo, she said she had not been briefed on the matter.