A mother, Eunice Bright, has accused a medical doctor, Dr Timothy Zeje, of Divine Reign Clinic in Sauka area of Abuja, of stealing one of her newborn twins during delivery, an allegation the doctor has strongly denied.
In an interview on Arise News Channel on Friday morning, Eunice narrated how what should have been a joyous moment turned into heartbreak and confusion for her family. She claimed multiple scans conducted at the clinic during her pregnancy confirmed she was carrying twins.
โI did my scan at the hospital, and Dr. Zeje told me I was carrying twins. This was confirmed again the following month,โ she said. However, she said she was denied access to the scan results despite repeated requests. โIn April, I went back, asked the nurse for the result, but she said the doctor asked that they keep it at the hospital.โ
Eunice further claimed that by May, when she pushed harder, the doctor reluctantly gave her the scan report but asked her to return it after showing her husband.
She recalled that ahead of cesarean section for the delivery of the babies, only one babyโs clothes were requested. โWhen I asked why, the nurses said one of the babies was sick, according to the scan results. But all my previous scans showed the babies were fine.โ
On June 11, 2022, Eunice underwent a caesarean section at the same hospital. To her shock, she said only one child was presented to her after delivery.
โI asked for my twins, but my husband told me only one child was given to him. I was shocked,โ she recounted.
According to her, she was later informed that the second baby had died shortly after birth. โThe doctor told my husband to rush the surviving baby to the specialist hospital in Gwagwalada or else he would die,โ she said, adding that her husband and sister eventually accompanied the baby to the tertiary hospital.
However, doubts about the fate of her second baby deepened when she saw a baby with the doctorโs wife during a visit to the AMAC Hospital in Gosa for routine immunisation.
โthe baby looked exactly like my baby โ he even had the same dreadlocks,โ she said. โI carried him, sat both boys on my lap, and compared them. If not for their different clothes, I wouldnโt have known which one was mine.โ
To investigate further, she pretended to be a struggling woman and visited the doctorโs home under the guise of selling wrappers to feed her family. She struck up a friendship with the doctorโs wife, which allowed her to frequently visit and interact with the baby she believed was hers.
โI noticed the baby was being maltreated. Sometimes I would bathe the child, clean him up when he soiled himself. They only paid attention to the other children,โ she claimed.
Eunice said her attempts to retrieve her medical records from the clinic were blocked. โWhen I went back to the hospital, the doctor told me they had burnt my file. I couldnโt believe it just six months after giving birth?โ
Meanwhile, her lawyer, accompanied her to the the interview session, noted that the police had initially become involved in the matter and even suggested a DNA test be conducted. โWe were told money had been collected from both the doctor and an NGO to conduct the DNA test. But instead of proceeding with the test, the police have now charged our client and her husband with giving false information and defaming the doctor,โ the lawyer said.
He expressed frustration at the turn of events. โHow can you allege defamation or false information when the DNA test, which would confirm the truth, hasnโt been carried out?โ
As of the time of filing this report, the matter is being handled by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) as the fate of the second baby remains a subject of public scrutiny and legal contention.
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