A 30-year-old woman, Sukyama Irmiya, who stole a baby from the ward of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi state, has opened up on the reason for her action.
OsunDaily News recalls that the suspect who posed as a hospital staff member stole the 14-day-old baby, Ibrahim Mohammed, on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
Security Operatives later apprehended the lady and recovered the baby on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
Speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of Bauchi State Police Command, the woman said she regretted her action and preferred death to the shame she brought upon herself by the act.
She explained that she stole the baby with the intention of raising it as her own.
She stated that she simply wanted to adopt the infant so people could also refer to her as a mother.
According to her, “I have realized my mistakes, you can only feel what I felt when you find yourself in my precarious situation. Before you know it, it has become a wound in my heart to the extent that I prefer that I am dead by now than stand this shame I am facing now.
“I am like a walking corpse, I am ready to die now but I demand for total forgiveness from God and everyone hurt by my actions. If I find favour of forgiveness from the parents of the baby, I will be very grateful to God.”
She, however stated that she was not from Dull in Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi State as was earlier reported when the story first broke out in September.
She explained that she earlier came to see the doctor over fertility issues but reckoned that it was of no use since she did not have a husband.
She said, “My name is Sukyama Irmiya, I am from Kanam LGA in Plateau State. I am 30 years old.” She said, adding that she came to Bauchi to see a doctor over my infertility issue.
“I came to Bauchi to see a doctor and from there I went to the Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) to see a doctor but I later changed my mind because of the condition I found myself in.
“I thought that even if I met the doctor, it is all about child bearing and I don’t have a husband because I have been chased out of my marriage, so there’s no hope of child bearing.”
Revealing how she was able to carry out the theft successfully, she said, “I went into the hospital confidently, entered the ward and met the woman, I engaged her in friendly conversations and she loosened up with me.”
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News
