Oh gracious me!!! Father abandons 3-year-old fire victim son in hospital

Nigeria - A father has abandoned his three-year-old son, Ozillia Alex-Adjissi, at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, after he sustained injuries from a kerosene explosion.

It was gathered that explosion claimed the lives of the infant's mother and brother. His condition was noticed by one  Mrs. Theresa Etido-Umoren, who had gone to visit her relation in the Intensive Care Unit of the UCTH. She decided to make his case public thereafter.

The Nation reports that her outcry had attracted the attention of members of the Calabar-Municipal branch of the National Association of Seadogs, which intervened with a donation of N20, 000 and a follow up of another N50, 000 on Tuesday.

Etido-Umoren said,

“I noticed her when I went to the ICU to visit my cousin who later died. I noticed this little girl, Ozillia, and I made inquiries about her. In the course of my inquiries I found out that nobody was caring for her.

“The hospital staff had taken her like their project. I had to go and see the head of Anaesthesia department and told her what I could do and they gave the go-ahead. The staff at the Anaesthesia department had taken up the responsibility of caring for her when they discovered that her father had stopped coming to see her.

“The child had been in the hospital for about two months without the father. The child’s mother and brother had died in the fire incident. So, I had to reach out to people and the first donation came from Seadogs. “From what I understand, the father is from Benin Republic and the mother was from Akwa Ibom State but they were not legally married before this incident. In addition to the grief of losing his family, he was made to marry the corpse of the mother before the burial.”

Etido-Umoren urged members of the public to support the victim in order to complete the remaining surgeries.