A 30 years old woman, known as Sukyama Irmiya, from Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State, who recently stole an 8-day old twin baby from a ward in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, has said that the devil pushed her to carry out the shameful act.
Sukyama, who regreted her actions explained that she tried adopting a child but was unable to as there was no infant child available at the orphanage she went to, adding however that she did not steal the child with any ulterior motives but simply to fulfil her desire of having a baby and being called a mother.
She said that the shameful act has become a wound in her heart to the extent that she prefers to die than stand the shame she is presently facing.
Sukyama said; “I prefer death than the shame I brought upon myself and the entire family by this act”.
The woman who looked remorseful while speaking with Journalists at the headquarters of Bauchi State Police Command said that the consequences of the shame is too much for her to bear.
She said that she has realized her mistakes, adding that people can only feel what she is feeling when they find themselves in her precarious situation.
In her words; “I am like a walking corpse now. I am ready to die now but, I demand for total forgiveness from God and everyone hurt by my actions. If I found favour of forgiveness from the parents of the baby, I will be very grateful to God”.
Commenting on what took her to Bauchi, Sukyama said that she went to see a doctor at the Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) but I later changed her mind as a result of the condition she found myself.
She further said; “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 is no hope of child bearing.
“I then went into the ward and stole a child. I stole the child because I want it. I want to take care of it as my own child. That was the reason I went for a newly born baby.
“I had tried adopting one but I couldn’t get because there was no infant child available at the orphanage I went to. I did not do it with any ulterior motives. I just want a baby so that I too will be called a mother.
“After taking the baby, I went to the village with it. It was there that I was discovered after a thorough investigation and discreet following by security operatives. I took the baby to Kanam.
“I repeat that I did it with the good intentions of raising the baby from the bottom of my heart. I am begging for forgiveness from the parents and other people affected by the act. I want God to forgive me, the authority should be lenient with me. I know that I have offended God, please, forgive me.
“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.
“I asked her if she had twins and she answered yes. I then asked her, now that you are sick, how are you breastfeeding the children, she told me that she was giving them milk. I asked her if I can take him to see how he looks, and, she allowed me to do that,” she narrated.
Sukyama Irmiya further said; “Immediately I took the baby, my heart told me to act as the mother and go. I then told her that I was coming and I just left the hospital and went away with the baby. I followed the main entrance to the main road and boarded a Keke and went to the village called Za’a in Kanam Local Government Area.
“I am calling on people like me not to succumb to the antics of the devil. It was the devil that pushed me to do that. They should rather get close to God for solutions to all problems,” Sukyama counseled.