Toddler Rescued After Being Locked Up For Days In An Uncompleted Building

Officials of the Gender Based Violence Response Team of Vicar Hope Foundation have rescued a two-year old boy locked up for days in an uncompleted building at Zone 5, Agbama Housing Estate Umuahia.

Reports gathered that the toddler looked dehydrated and malnourished at the time she was rescued, perhaps after going several days without food and water.

According to the Programme Manager, Vicar Hope Foundation, Mr Raymond Ukwa, the organisation received a call on Saturday, April 25, 2020, from landlords in the area that a child had been locked up in an uncompleted building.

Working in line with well-established protocols on intervention, the foundation reported the incident to the Umuahia Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Ekeinde Odion, who ordered officers to break into the building to rescue the child.

“As a foundation, we believe in creating a safe environment for our children; a lot of deaths of children every year occur because of negligence and preventable diseases; it’s our duty to ensure that we reduce these numbers and protect the right to life of every child,” he stated.

Neighbours, who pleaded anonymity, said the child’s parents were fond of locking him up for days without food or water, adding that they often pass food through a crack in the wall of the building to him.

The Assistant Secretary, Board of Trustees of the foundation, Mr Chika Ojiegbe, said the child was examined by medical personnel and taken to a safe dwelling, while relevant authorities had commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding his abandonment in the uncompleted building.