{"id":198902,"date":"2026-04-12T20:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:35:37","slug":"lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims","title":{"rendered":"Lagos Govt Rescues Child Abandoned Over Witchcraft Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Lagos State Government has rescued a young child reportedly abandoned and subjected to neglect following allegations of witchcraft.<\/p>\n

The case drew public attention after a disturbing video circulated on social media, showing the toddler in a visibly distressed state.<\/p>\n

The child appeared malnourished, clad only in a diaper, and was seen drinking from an unclean container.<\/p>\n

The situation was first highlighted by a social media user, identified as @TheGrandmaBoy on X, who raised concerns about the child\u2019s welfare. In the post, the user alleged that the toddler had been abandoned by her mother, who reportedly accused her of being a witch.<\/p>\n

\u201cConcerned neighbours raise alarm concerning a three-year-old toddler that has been literally abandoned by the mother, who believes that she\u2019s a witch and deserves to die,\u201d the post stated.<\/p>\n

The user further called on relevant authorities to intervene, sharing a location in the Ipaja area of Lagos and alleging that the child was malnourished and living in unhygienic conditions. However, these claims had not been independently verified at the time.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the development, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Print Media, Ridwan Ajetunmobi, confirmed on Sunday that the state government had stepped in.<\/p>\n

He disclosed that the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende, led a team to the location identified in the report to verify the situation.<\/p>\n

According to him, the child has since been rescued and is now in the care of the Lagos State Government, while the police have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.<\/p>\n

Authorities assured that further updates would be provided as investigations progress.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Lagos State Government has rescued a young child reportedly abandoned and subjected to neglect following allegations of witchcraft. The case drew public attention after a disturbing video circulated on social media, showing the toddler in a visibly distressed state. The child appeared malnourished, clad only in a diaper, and was seen drinking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nLagos Govt Rescues Child Abandoned Over Witchcraft Claims - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lagos State Government has rescued a young child reportedly abandoned and subjected to neglect following allegations of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lagos Govt Rescues Child Abandoned Over Witchcraft Claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lagos State Government has rescued a young child reportedly abandoned and subjected to neglect following allegations of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T19:31:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T20:35:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1776026112.747407.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lagos Govt Rescues Child Abandoned Over Witchcraft Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-12T19:31:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-12T20:35:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1776026112.747407.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/lagos-govt-rescues-child-abandoned-over-witchcraft-claims\",\"name\":\"Lagos Govt Rescues Child Abandoned Over Witchcraft Claims - 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