Newborn Baby Abandoned In Lagos Named After A Well-Known Man; GUESS WHO?

A newborn baby abandoned by the roadside on March 8, 2015, has been named after a late businessman and philanthropist, Molade Okoya-Thomas.



According to The Punch, the two-day-old baby was found around 4 pm at Marina, close to Wema Bank Plc. He was later picked up by Oscar Odiboh who runs a non-governmental organisation in Lagos.



The baby was first taken to the family support unit of the Nigeria Police Force, Adeniji Adele Division, and then handed over to the Lagos State Government who had since taken responsibility for the child.



Commenting on the incident, Oscar Odiboh, the President of Afribaby Initiative, said that he got a call and immediately rushed to save the baby.



“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.”



Explaining the choice of the name for the baby, the man said that the idea was to immortalise the late philanthropist, Molade Okoya-Thomas, who was passionate about child support.



“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 said.



A police officer in the family support unit of the station confirmed the incident and added that the baby was now with the Office of Youth and Social Development.