After being abandoned for several days in an uncompleted building at Zone 5, Agbama Housing Estate, Umuahia, Abia State capital, a 2-year old child was rescued by officials of the Gender Based Violence Response Team of the Vicar Hope Foundation, Umuahia.
The child, who was suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnourishment, is suspected to have been locked up by his parents.
Confirming the incident, Mr Raymond Ukwa, the Programme Manager at Vicar Hope Foundation, stated that the organisation received a call from landlords in the area on Saturday, April 25, reporting the child’s confinement in an uncompleted building. The foundation promptly notified the Umuahia Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Ekeinde Odion, who deployed officers to break into the building and rescue the child.
Concerned neighbors, speaking anonymously, revealed that the child’s parents had a habit of leaving him locked up for days without provisions and would occasionally pass food to him through a crack in the building’s wall.
After being examined by medical personnel, the child was relocated to a safe place by the Assistant Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the foundation, Mr Chika Ojiegbe. Meanwhile, relevant authorities have initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s abandonment in the uncompleted building.