Victoria Wani finds herself in bitter-sweet custody of a baby girl abandoned by her mother. (Photo: Awan Moses/Eye Radio)

One afternoon, on June 26, Victoria Wani was sitting at her grocery shop in Nyakuron Market, when she received a mother, who asked for a favor to have her one-month-old baby attended to, as she goes to ease herself in a bathroom – only to never return.

“I was sitting in the shop and this woman came to me and told me she needs a nearby bathroom. When I showed her the direction, she asked if she could leave the child with me for a few minutes,” she narrates to Eye Radio.

But the mother never came back, not in an hour, not on that day, and not today, due to only God knows why.

“That was around 12 o’clock, and he stayed until 3 o’clock, but she did not come, so I began to suspect that something had happened, so I went and asked about her in the bathroom, but those who were there said that they did not see a woman with these descriptions.”

On the evening of the incident, Victoria, a mother of two girls aged 7 and 3, called her husband and informed him about the little baby girl.

The couple eventually took the baby to the police, but they were told to take custody of the child for the night and come back the next day.

On the next day, she went back to the police station and was told to keep taking care of the child and report back in August.

“When we returned, the girl was suffering from a high temperature, and we took her to the clinic for treatment, and she is now in good health. The child was hungry. When we got home, I washed her, give her some milk, and fell asleep.”

For about a month, the young woman has taken care of the infant – a situation that has left her trapped at home and struggling to run her business.

Hence, coming to terms with the fact that the woman had abandoned the baby, Victoria has taken custody of the child, whom she has named Angela Eman.

Unfortunately, Victory has now spent a month at home and has not been able to go to work.

She said this has made it difficult for the family to cater for their needs and buy milk for the baby.

However, her husband, who works as a day laborer, helps to provide the baby needs, including diapers and milk.”

“The child was small, and I could not work in the market and take care of the child, so I decided to stop going to work in the market and take care of the child until she becomes strong.”

Victory, who has now grown passionate about her newly found baby girl, will report back to the police next month to see if the baby’s mom has shown up.

In an interview with Eye Radio, she said she hopes that the “gift of God” will remain with her.

“I am supposed to go with the girl to the police station in the month of August. I hope the police will not take the girl from me because it is a gift from God.”

“He (God) chose me from all those in the market to take charge of her. It has become part of my family. And whoever wants to help me can support me by buying milk for the girl.”

Victory further calls on mothers not to neglect their children no matter their economic situation.

“It is not a good thing to leave our children like this in the streets,” she said.

“If you are pregnant and your husband or lover deny you, or you are going through difficult circumstances, you should go to the benefactors and ask for help. Because it is not good to leave the child on the street.”