A newborn baby boy has reportedly been abducted from a healthcare facility in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State.
The incident, according to information gathered by our correspondent, happened in the early hours of Tuesday after the baby was taken alongside his mother to a ward for post-delivery care.
Sources said the baby initially failed to cry after birth, prompting a nurse on duty to intervene. The newborn was later said to have responded and appeared stable.
The mother and her baby were subsequently taken to a ward.
While there, a woman allegedly approached the mother, identified herself as a nurse and claimed she needed to carry out another examination on the newborn.
The suspect reportedly took the baby from his mother and proceeded towards the labour room.
The baby’s grandmother, who became suspicious of the development, was said to have followed the woman and remained at the entrance of the labour room.
However, the woman allegedly told her to move away, assuring her that there was no cause for concern.
The grandmother reportedly complied, only for the woman to disappear with the baby shortly afterwards.
Nurses working at the facility later reportedly denied collecting the newborn, stating that the woman who allegedly posed as a nurse was not their staff member.
The development caused panic and distress at the hospital, with relatives, sympathisers and other concerned individuals gathering at the facility to support the baby’s mother.
Security personnel were subsequently deployed to the hospital to maintain order and prevent the situation from escalating.
Confirming the incident on Wednesday night, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Peter Aondongu, told journalists in Makurdi that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.
According to Aondongu, the incident took place at a healthcare centre in Gboko but was moved to Makurdi for further investigation because of the level of attention the case had attracted.
The police spokesman said additional information would be released once investigators had established more facts about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the newborn.