December 16, 2008

Baby abandoned in Oyo becomes US citizen

A one day-old baby who was abandoned by an unknown person about four years ago at the Molete area of Ibadan, Oyo State, has been adopted by a couple based in the United States of America.

The baby, was later named Ona-Ara by the officials of the Care People Foundation who put him at the Motherless Babies Home run by the Bible Way Christian Church near the toll gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The General Overseer of the church, Rev. Tunde Toluwani Oginni, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Monday during the All Oyo State Carnival for the Disabled, Motherless and the Less Privileged, sponsored by him.

Oginni explained that Ona-Ara was picked up in the early hours of the fateful day, a few hours after his birth.

He was then taken to the motherless babies’ home where he grew up to become a good looking young boy.

The cleric said a bishop who is based in the USA and had been married for 20 years without a baby, came to Nigeria in August this year with his wife and developed interest in Baby Ona-Ara.

According to him, the couple was in the country on the invitation of the church and they fell in love with the baby the moment they sighted him.

He said, “They discussed with the management of the home and necessary legal and constitutional documents were perfected. As am talking to you now, the baby is comfortably living abroad with his new parents.

“One interesting thing is that the Home did not collect money from the US based couple. If it were to be at other homes being run by government, they could pay up to N1m to adopt the baby,” he said.

Oginni, therefore, called on wealthy Nigerians and captains of industries to develop interest in the plights of the Motherless and less privileged children in the society.

He also supported the call for the establishment of a university that would be dedicated for children with special needs.

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