Kehinde Fajobi
Human rights activist and journalist Chidiebube Okeoma has successfully secured the release of a set of twin boys, held in a clinic since their birth on May 4 due to their mother’s inability to pay the delivery bill.
Okeoma, in a statement issued from Owerri, Imo State, on Saturday, credited the state’s Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, for his intervention.
He said Danjuma’s “professional and fatherly intervention” ensured the release of the infants, even as the doctor resisted, allegedly holding the babies against their rights.
Okeoma revealed, “The CP’s intervention after the doctor acknowledged before him in his office on Thursday that he jokingly requested that the babies be exchanged in lieu of the delivery bill was commendable.”
The activist described previous failed attempts to secure the discharge of the 19-year-old mother and her twins.
Finally, after the police intervention, he and his team provided food, diapers, and a ₦100,000 cash gift to the mother, funded by donations from concerned Nigerians who had heard about the family’s plight on social media.
Okeoma further urged Commissioner Danjuma to press charges against the doctor for “hostage-taking, medical ethics violations, and attempts to compromise the identities of the twins.”
He called for an investigation into the alleged assault on the young mother and her own mother by the clinic staff, along with the reported theft of their phone.