Missing baby: Deaf, dumb parents still hopeful, as group organises prayers in Kaduna

The day-old baby stolen from his deaf and dumb mother at Yusuf Dantsoho Hospital, Kaduna is yet to be found two months after the incident.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria reveals that nothing much has been done by the hospital management and the Kaduna State Government to track the woman who went away with the baby.
The parents and the state chapter of the Association of People Living with Disabilities are however, hopeful that the baby would be recovered.
Nura Mohammed, a brother to the father of the missing baby, told NAN that the family had not received any update on the matter.
Mohammed said: “After our meeting with the government through the Ministry of Women Affairs, we have not heard anything from them. The only thing is for us to intensify prayers.”
He still blamed the hospital staff for negligence over the circumstances that led to the disappearance of the baby.
He said: “The case is already at the metro police station but nothing has been done up to now; we don’t have any information.
“We have been praying for Allah to expose those behind this crime so that the baby will be returned to the parents.”
Leader of the association of people living with disabilities in the state, Malam Rilwan Abdullahi said they plan to hold a special prayer for the return of the baby.
Abdullahi said: “We have met with the hospital management and also reported the case to the state Police Commissioner.
“We have written letter of complaint to the state government through the commissioner for women affairs and social development.
“We have also gone back to the hospital management and we were told that the ministry of health has constituted a committee to investigate the matter.
“We later met with an assistant commissioner of police who assured us that the police are working to ensure that they find the missing baby. He said the command had communicated to other police commands in the country on the matter.
“The only way out is for us to intensify prayers, we are sure that our prayers will not go in vain.
“We believe in Allah’s promise to intercede for anyone who was unjustly wronged. No matter how long it takes, Allah will surely expose the perpetrators of this crime.”
He said the association had equally followed up on the investigation by the hospital but was told that the committee had not concluded the assignment.
He said: “Before the week runs out, we will still follow up to find out if the investigation has been concluded.
“On our part, we have agreed to set a date for special prayers by all our members across the state for the safe return of the baby.
“We are soliciting support from our members outside the state to also organise such prayer, so that God will expose the perpetrators of this crime.”
He disclosed that the association has been visiting the parents of the missing baby who “are in good condition”.
Abdullahi said that the state rehabilitation board had assisted the mother of the baby with N20, 000.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, acknowledged that there had been no progress on the recovery of the missing baby.
Baba said: “Honestly, we have not heard anything but we are very concerned; we have opened our ears and are looking up to the security agencies investigating the matter.
“We are still hopeful, we have not given up and whatever we will do, we will continue to do it within our means to find the baby.”
On his part, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Mohammed Armayau, said efforts are still on to find the baby.
Armayau said: “An advert has been placed in the newspaper and the police are still looking for the woman who took away the baby.”
Spokesman of the state police command, ASP Aliyu Mukhtar, assured the family that the police had not abandoned the case.
Muktar said: “The command has spread it’s surveillance across the state and it was through the process that a baby boy that was stolen from Sabo area was discovered. The police are still searching for the baby.’’
NAN recalls that the baby boy was stolen on January 10, by a woman who allegedly posed as a relative of the deaf and dumb woman.
The mother of the baby, Salamatu Kabiru, had gone through caesarean section and had not recovered fully when the incident happened.
The baby’s father, Kabiru Abubakar, who is also deaf and dump collapsed and had to be resuscitated at the hospital on learning about the theft of the baby.