Police arrest 2 health workers, security guard over missing placenta
2 min read
Nigeria police force
Two health workers and a security guard working at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Emure Ile, Owo in Ondo State, have been arrested over a missing placenta of a newborn.
The trio were arrested after the parents of the newborn—a girl—raised the alarm of the incident and reported it to the police.
The father of the infant, Tunde Ijanusi, alleged that the health facility refused to hand over the placenta of the newly born baby to her mother, identified as Joy, after delivery.
Ijanusi explained that all efforts to get the attention of the doctors in the facility over the missing placenta of the baby were unsuccessful.
The paternal grandmother of the baby, Mrs Funmilayo Ijanusi, who also spoke, said the health workers of the health facility told her that ‘a dog entered the facility of the hospital, catering away the baby’s placenta.’
She added that the hospital personnel had repeatedly persuaded the family of the newborn to forgo the matter by avoiding it going to the public.
According to her, the family had to quickly report the case to the police for urgent action.
Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in Ondo State, confirmed the case to our reporter in a telephone chat.
She added that the three suspects who had been apprehended by the police were already in custody.
“We are investigating the suspects already in our custody and we shall get to the roots of the matter,” Odunlami-Omisanya added.
While reacting to the ugly incident, the state of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) dissociated any of its members from the case of the alleged missing placenta of the newborn baby at the health facility.
A press statement signed by the Chairman of the Association, Comrade Kehinde Olomiye, asked the security operatives in the state to unravel those behind the missing placenta.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), in the state, has called for justice over the missing placenta of a newborn baby.
