An unidentified woman, Friday abandoned a toddler with the Down syndrome. The boy was put in a carton and abandoned near the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) headquarters at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
Sympathisers who gathered to have a glimpse of the baby wondered how the woman succeeded in placing the carton that contained the boy near the heavily guarded RRS headquarters that also has numerous Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at strategic positions.
Women who were at the scene of the incident immediately looked for clothes and wrapped the baby before informing the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), the ministry saddled with taking care of such cases. They also rained abuses on the perpetrator of such dastardly act.
Director of Child Development in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Alaba Fadairo, who later received the baby, said he appeared to be afflicted with the Down syndrome, but promised that he would be adequately catered for by the state government at the Special Home Centre in Ketu.
She condemned the action of the boy’s mother, saying she should have approached the special home where such babies are cared for.
“Every child needs a home. Every child wants a mother and father in his or her life. But I can assure you that the child will be taken to a convenient and comfortable home where he will be treated well. There are well trained professionals that will take him up and work on him. Here in Lagos, there is a specially built home for this kind of case,” the WAPA director said.
Fadiaro charged mothers with children suffering from the down syndrome to approach the state government or visit its facilities rather than throwing them away. She noted that such children could turn out to be skilled in one aspect of human endeavour or the other if given special care and attention.
Source: Daily Trust
