Mother and five-month-old baby saved from canal in Lagos

Just two weeks after workers from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, known as KAI, rescued four nursing mothers and their babies from a dumpsite on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, another rescue happened. A five-month-old baby girl and her mother were saved from a canal along the same expressway.

PUNCH Metro spoke with the agency's spokesperson, Lukman Ajayi, on Wednesday. He said the operatives found the mother and her child during their routine clearance work in the Abule-Ado area of the expressway.

Ajayi mentioned that the mother could not explain how they ended up in the canal. He said the baby was in poor health when they were found. The workers were worried about the safety of both the mother and her child.

They quickly rescued them and took them to a nearby hospital for medical care. Ajayi said, “Today, our operatives rescued a mother and her five-month-old baby girl from a canal at Abule-Ado during routine clearance operations on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

“The mother could not give a satisfactory answer as to why they were there, and she only said she was running from her husband, who lived in FESTAC. Both the mother and the child have been taken to the hospital. The child was not in a good state of health when they were rescued.”

This recent rescue highlights the danger mothers and young children face while living in unsafe places along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Previous rescues by KAI have raised concerns about sanitation, child welfare, and access to basic needs.

The ongoing discoveries point to the need for environmental and social welfare agencies to work together. They should find vulnerable families and offer them proper shelter, healthcare, and other support instead of leaving them in dangerous situations.