Police in Enugu State on Thursday said they received news publications that allege a woman suffering from depression over hardship dumped her children in the Ogui Police Station of the Command on Saturday, March 2, 2024. The publications further claim that she committed suicide by running into a moving vehicle in front of the Station.
A statement by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, described the reports as untrue and misleading. Hence, the Command clarifies and presents an accurate account of the incident as follows:
“On March 2, at about 8:30 a.m., the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) of Central Police Station (CPS) and Ogui Police Division received distress calls alleging that a woman abandoned her three children in front of God Is Good Terminal along Ogui Road by Osisatech Roundabout, Enugu. The callers further alleged that the woman stripped herself naked due to a mental disorder before running off to an unknown destination. The DPOs and their teams immediately moved to the scene, where they found and took the children to Ogui Police Station and commenced investigations to locate their mother.
“During investigations, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, wife of the Executive Governor of Enugu State, visited the Police Station, offering scholarships for welfare support for all three children (names withheld), aged six, three and two years, respectively. Afterward, they were handed over to the Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development through Mrs. Ngozi Enih, the Honourable Commissioner overseeing the Ministry.
“Additionally, the woman’s husband reported to the Police Station and stated that his yet-to-be seen wife recently started displaying strange behaviours, which suggested signs of mental health issues. He further stated that he returned from work in the morning hours of the said day of the incident, and met the absence of his wife and the children at their home in the Ugwuaji area of Enugu South Local Government Area.
“It is, therefore, expedient to categorically state that, contrary to the untrue and misleading viral publications, there was no such incident of the said woman dumping the children and committing suicide through a fatal motor accident in front of Ogui Police Station. Moreover, there was no fatal motor-pedestrian accident recorded in front of the Police Station or along the entire stretch of Ogui Road, Enugu, on March 2, 2024.
“Consequently, while investigative actions are on course to trace the whereabouts and ascertain the condition of the woman, the public has been enjoined to disregard the untrue and misleading publications. Furthermore, the publishers are advised to always investigate and get their facts right before rushing to the press with such information that is capable of misinforming and misleading the public.”
