3-week-old baby in coma after father’s slap

A 32-year-old man identified as Edet Asuquo, has fled his home in the Idi Araba area of Lagos State after he nearly killed his 3-week-old baby, Gift Asuquo, with slap.

Edet, who did not want a girl child, was alleged to have said he did not see her usefulness and threatened to kill her.

It was gathered that Edet and the baby’s mother, Rosemary Kingsley, both indigenes of Calabar, Cross River State, were only dating when the woman became pregnant.

Rosemary was reported to have packed into the suspect’s apartment on Ayinla Street after she was delivered of the baby.

Edet, a bus conductor, however, was said to have been angry that his lover gave birth to a girl and not a boy as he expected, which resulted in frequent disagreements between them.

The baby was reported to be hungry and was crying when the father allegedly slapped her.

She was said to have convulsed due to the severity of the assault and was rushed to a medical centre for treatment.

The hospital workers informed the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender of the matter, and the agency contacted the police at the Itire division.

But by the time the police got to the house, the suspect had ran away.