A two-day old baby abandoned by the roadside on Sunday has been named after a late businessman and philanthropist, Molade Okoya-Thomas.It was gathered that the baby was first sighted around 4pm at Marina, close to Wema Bank Plc. He was later picked up by a Good Samaritan who runs a non-governmental organisation in Lagos.
The baby, it was learnt, was subsequently taken to the family support unit of the Nigeria Police Force, Adeniji Adele Division. From there, he was on Monday handed over to the Lagos State Government who had since taken responsibility for the child.
Speaking on the incident, the President of Afribaby Initiative, Dr. Oscar Odiboh, the man who found the baby, explained that he got a call and acted promptly to save the baby.
He said, “I got a distress call on Sunday that a baby had been abandoned by the roadside at Marina. I left everything I was doing and rushed to the scene.
“While I was heading for the scene, I contacted the police and some medical personnel to be on standby. On getting there, I discovered that the baby was abandoned inside a kiosk. People were gathered and just watching, cursing the mother. Nobody dared to go near the baby. A few minutes after I got there, the police arrived and I was allowed to carry the baby. We took him to the station and I handed him over to the family support unit of the police at the Adeniji Adele Police Station.”
When asked on how he came about the name Okoya-Thomas for the baby, he said the whole idea was to immortalise the late philanthropist, who was passionate about child support.
He said, “Knowing that the police would transfer the baby to the appropriate government agency, and in order to create an identity for the baby, I decided to name him after Chief Okoya-Thomas.
“Coincidentally, I was wearing one of his burial attires on that day and the baby, who we have adjudged to be about two days old, might have been born the same day our he was buried,” he added.
A police officer in the family support unit of the station, where little Okoya-Thomas was taken to, told our correspondent that the baby was now with the Office of Youth and Social Development and asked our correspondent to direct his enquiries there .
An official in the office, who identified herself as Idowu, the Child Protection Officer, confirmed that the baby was brought on Monday and had been handed over to an orphanage.
When asked for the name of the orphanage Okoya-Thomas was transferred to, she said, “The baby is doing very well and has been transferred to an orphanage. Sorry I can’t tell you more than that for now.
“We have our procedure. Once a child is in government custody, we dont disclose information about that child.”
