Residents watch as new-born baby suffocates to death

Residents of the Abule Egba area of Lagos stood and watched as a baby who was abandoned in a nylon bag suffocated to death.

The new born baby according toundefinedwas delivered by a woman, who is believed to be mentally unstable.

According to the residents who spoke with Punch, the woman was always roaming the area.

After delivering the baby on Wednesday, January 28, she dumped the baby by the roadside in the area; she wrapped the baby in a black sack, neatly clothed with a plaster on the mouth.

Speaking to Punch, Mrs Atanda Kuforiji, who is a trader, revealed the residents discovered the baby wrapped in a sack and placed by the roadside.

She revealed that as at the time the residents discovered the abandoned baby, he was still alive, but instead of intervening to save him, people were busy taking photos.

“The baby was wrapped in a sack and placed by the roadside. I saw a crowd gather and decided to have a look; the child was still alive. People took pictures of the baby. “His mouth was covered with a plaster to prevent him crying out. Everybody was saying what came into their heads, but nobody offered to help the baby,” Mrs. Atanda Kuforiji said.

The resident reportedly were scared of picking the baby from where he was dumped, leaving the new-born baby to suffocate to death.

The baby later died after struggling to live for over six hours.

A driver who also spoke to the newspaper, Mr. Lasisi Gafar, said since the incident, nobody had seen the woman in the area. He added that neither he nor most people in the area knew when and how the baby was dumped by the roadside.

Another trader told Punch that the baby was alive as of 11am, but had died when government officials came around 5pm to pick him.