The Ogun State government has taken over the care of a two-day-old baby abandoned at Sayedero Market in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area.
The baby, who was found by a woman and handed over to the police last week, became the centre of attention after viral videos claimed the child had gone missing.
In the videos, the woman who found the baby accused officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development of taking the child without telling her the whereabouts. She pleaded, “Well-meaning members of the society should help me find the child.”
However, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Adijat Adeleye, dismissed the claims and confirmed that the baby was safe and in the government’s custody.
She told reporters in Abeokuta on Thursday, “The baby is in good condition. The ministry took the baby legally after the police completed the necessary documentation.”
Adeleye said the video was an attempt to emotionally blackmail the government and mislead the public.
She also explained why the woman who found the baby could not adopt the child.
“We don’t normally allow those who know the history of a baby to adopt him or her because of the future,” she said. “We don’t give a child up for adoption in an environment where their stories are known.”
The commissioner added that rescued children in Ogun automatically become children of the state governor until they are adopted through legal processes.
“Any child found in Ogun State belongs to the state government. They are all children of the governor, and that’s why whenever we are naming them, their surname is that of the governor of the day,” she explained.
“You see some children bearing Daniel, some Amosun, and now Abiodun, depending on who the governor is when they were found,” she added.
Adeleye warned that anyone trying to give out a child without the ministry’s approval would be treated as a kidnapper.
“No orphanage or individual has the right to put a child up for adoption without approval. Anyone who does that will be charged with abduction,” she said.
