Man on the run after he almost killed his newborn baby

A man, Edet Asuquo, has absconded from home after he almost killed his newborn baby, Gift Asuquo. Little Gift’s offence was that she was a girl, as 32-year-old Edet was alleged to have said he didn’t see her usefulness and threatened to kill her.

It was reported that Edet and the baby’s mother, Rosemary Kingsley, were lovers before she got pregnant for him and then decided to pack into the suspect’s apartment immediately after she was delivered of the baby.Edet was however infuriated by the fact that the baby was a girl instead of the boy that he was expecting to have. This resulted in frequent disagreements between them.

On January 10, 2018, the baby was reported to be hungry and was crying when the father allegedly slapped her. The baby was reported to have convulsed as a result of the slap meted on her by the father and was rushed to a medical centre for treatment.

The attention of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender was called to the matter, and the agency contacted the police at the Itire division. By the time the Police got to the suspect’s apartment, he had run away.

A social worker with the OPD told reporters that blood spurted out of the baby’s nostrils as a result of the injury she sustained, adding that the mark of the slap was visible on her cheek.

She said,

“We gathered that the two lovers were not married. She sold plantain chips, while the man was a bus conductor. They just met on the road and agreed to date each other. She became pregnant a few weeks into the relationship. At the initial stage, the man didn’t want to take responsibility for the pregnancy. But after she was delivered of the baby, he bowed to pressure and allowed both mother and child to move in with him. They lived in a shop.

“According to the woman, the baby was crying that morning while the father carried her. He started abusing the baby and saying a girl would not be useful to him because he wanted a boy. She said he slapped the baby. At that point, the baby started convulsing. It was the neighbours who compelled him to get drugs for the girl’s treatment. She was later taken to a hospital. The mark of the assault is visible on the child.

“When the matter got to our attention, we mobilised policemen to the house. However, we were told that he had escaped. The police have promised to get him arrested for assaulting the innocent baby. Even the mother was being maltreated by Edet; he seized her phone.

The Director of the OPD, Mrs. Olubukola Salami, said the agency would ensure that the suspect faced the full wrath of the law.