Man Finds Baby Abandoned on Side of Highway, Then He Sees Something with Him
When a man came across this infant on the roadside, he saw an item that had been left with him. Baby dumping, which is one of the most common forms of child abuse in Nigeria, is one of the most common. Despite the fact that this practice is not new.
The right regularity with which it’s currently conducted, as well as the negative implications it has on the newborns involved, has brought it to a level of serious social problem that requires prompt intervention. The causes, trends and consequences of Nigeria’s baby dumping phenomenon are investigated in this article.
As a starting point, let’s look at the situation. A quota sampling technique was used to select 100 market women for the study, resulting in a total of 100 participants. The information was acquired through separate indepth interviews and focus group sessions. The ethnographic summaries and content analysis utilized to evaluate the data were extremely helpful. The notion that the phenomenon of infant dumping is intricate in nature was one of the conclusions.
A variety of factors have been identified as contributing to its occurrence and it’s been recognized as having a wide range of social and health effects for the newborns who are dumped, according to the conclusions of the study. In order to effectively combat the problem, a Swift shift from the current reactive strategy to more Proactive preparation is essential.
Residents awoke to find a baby wrapped in a white cloth abandoned in the middle of the road surrounded by garbage cans. They awoke in front of St. Thomas Anglican Church in Mile Two Daibu, Port Harcourt River Slate yesterday, after 3 hours of neglect on the part of the residence, an unknown woman, presumed to be a single mother, allegedly dropped the one day old infant off.
The baby passed away. The baby had been dropped off the night before, according to witnesses. The situation shocked residents and business owners at Port Harcourt’s famous Ekoku Car spare parts market, prompting them to escape. It’s been suggested that the baby died as a result of a severe cold that struck in the early hours of the morning, according to a bystander who did not want his name to be revealed. Others refrained from rescuing him out of fear of being apprehended by the authorities.
He acknowledged that the infant had signs of life, but expressed regret that the baby died as a result of the lack of assistance. People gathered in small groups around the fountain. An infant had also been dumped in the same rubbish site the previous year, according to one of the groups, which they corroborated.
They were concerned that the practice of discarding babies at rubbish dumps was growing more widespread in the neighborhood and they conveyed their unhappiness with the practice when contacted. The baby’s remains was still in the garbage can when this report was published.
Nandi, Omani, The River State Police public relations officer, indicated that the command had not yet been told in the matter. Meanwhile, Dr. Joseph Apollo, a consultant pediatrician at the state’s most prestigious hospital, the Breakweight Memorial Specialist Hospital, has warned that exposure to extreme cold as well as exposure to extreme heat can result in the death of newborns.
He claimed that, among other things, that no child should be rejected and that there are millions of parents waiting for children in foster care to adopt. He cautioned young girls and women against leaving their kids, stating that if they do not require children, they can donate them to a motherless home where they can be adopted as foster children.
Despite the fact that the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations, World Declaration and Plan of Action on the Child, and UNICEF’s Annual Reports on the State of the World’s Children all advocate for every child’s right to a fulfilling and enriching life.
In Nigeria, children continue to be subjected to a variety of forms of abuse, including infant dumping and child trafficking. Despite the fact that no data on the number of documented occurrences of ditched or abandoned neonates in Nigeria is available, sources from various sections of the country indicate that this illegal act is occurring at an alarming rate across the country.
According to the Child Care Unit of the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs, Community Development and Social Welfare in Abadan, 114 incidents of dumped and or abandoned babies were registered between January 2009 and February 2012, compared to 84 cases between January 2006 and December 2008. In a related occurrence, the Lagos State Government Special Adviser on Youth and Social Development reportedly revealed that throughout the year 2011, the state of Lagos documented 497 cases of abandoned infants tossed in various streets throughout the state.
In addition, the Chevy State Committee on his BA or Social Welfare recently revealed that between October and December of last year, it has collected over 50 cases of abandoned babies in various places across the state. The recent rise in baby dumping in Nigeria reflects a dramatic break from traditional Nigerian or African social cultural beliefs, which place a high value on pregnancy and child rearing.
With childbirth expected of every family and a kid viewed as a blessing, children serve as a symbol of riches and assure the continuance of the family’s lineage, and Nigerians fear that having children is vitally important for both men and women. Motherhood, according to Oybomi, plays a special significance in African cultures and communities since it’s the foundation of social connections, identities and societies as a whole. A child’s birth has always been and will continue to be more than a family affair.
It’s also a commemoration of everyone in the neighborhood. Baby dumping is a concern because it’s unethical and egregiously breaches the dignity and sanctity of the life of society’s most vulnerable citizens. This act is in violation of Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003, which States that no child should be tortured or subjected to other cruel, torturous, or degrading treatment or punishment. It also violates section 34 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution, which States that every individual is entitled to the respect of his or her dignity and correspondingly, no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel degrading treatment. Section 34 is also violated by this act.
Regardless of the fact that baby dumping occurs frequently in Nigeria as well as the public outcry that such events usually provoke, the country’s socioeconomic problem has received insufficient scholarly attention. As a result, the study’s goal was to increase the state of knowledge on the subject. The practice of abandoning a baby soon after birth has been around for centuries and the reasons behind it are based on the social conventions that prevailed in a certain geographic location at the time.
They suggest that the fascinating phenomenon of abandoned newborns has far reaching social consequences and is frequently prone to societal change as a result of cultural differences in socioeconomic conditions. Cher, Mueller, and Fox stated that the occurrence of abandoned babies has far reaching social consequences and is frequently sensitive to social change and situation as a result of cultural differences in social settings.
According to Modi Morocca, babies are dumped when they’re left somewhere where they may or may not be discovered by others. The practice is one of the most heinous and brutal crimes that may be carried out in any country on the planet.
Baby dumping, according to Cindy’s author, is a violation of all essential parental obligations, including providing nourishment safety and direction to children throughout their most vulnerable stages of life. Babies who are abandoned at birth endure a lifetime of uncertainty and their identity and genetic background. This act is also seen as an example of the reality of domestic abuse and poverty that mothers face.
According to Philpott, the assumption that only moms abandon their children is inaccurate. According to Philpott, because men forsake their children at some time in their life. While both mothers and fathers may be guilty of these crimes, Marks and Kumar argue that women are more likely than men to be the culprits in the great majority of situations.
According to Dresser Burke et Al. Female baby dumping participants are generally emotionally underdeveloped, lack problem solving ability, and lack basic coping skills to cope with their problems.
Adulterous paternity, rape, illegitimacy, and sexual relationships, and the feeling that the child is a burden to personal growth are among the reasons for killing and or dumping children. As per Bradley.