Gloria Ogbu



A 30-year-old woman, Sukyama Irmiya, who stole a 14-day-old twin baby at a ward in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) in Bauchi State has revealed that her childlessness made her to steal the baby.


The suspect who is from Kanam LGA of Plateau State, was arrested by the Bauchi State Police Command on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, six days after she stole the baby by posing as a staff in the hospital.


Speaking with newsmen after her arrest, the suspect said: “I came to Bauchi to see a doctor and from there I went to the Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) to see a doctor but I later changed my mind because of the condition I found myself in.


“I thought that even if I met the doctor, it is all about child bearing and I don’t have a husband because I have been chased out of my marriage, so there’s no hope of child bearing.


“I stole the child because I want it, I want to take care of it as my own child, that was the reason I went for a newly-born baby. I had tried adopting one but I couldn’t get one because there was no infant child available at the orphanage I went to. I did not do it with any ulterior motives, I just want a baby so that I too will be called a mother.


“I entered the ward and met the woman, I engaged her in friendly conversations and she loosened up with me. I asked her if she had twins and she answered yes, I then asked her if I could take him to see how he looks, and she allowed me to do that.


“Immediately I took the baby, my heart told me to act as the mother and go. I then told her that I was coming and I just left the hospital and went away with the baby. I followed the main entrance to the main road and boarded a Keke and went to the village called Za’a in Kanam LGA.” She added.