Bodies of two infants recovered from Nairobi River
Bodies of two infants have been recovered from the Nairobi River near Korogocho area by Sonko Rescue Team.
The two bodies now brings the total number of bodies recovered from the river since the beginning of the cleaning exercise early last year to 21. They include 16 infants and 5 adults.
DEAD BODIES
According to Fredrick Okinda, who was leading the clean up exercise, one of the team members found one infant wrapped in polythene paper while the other was found floating nearby.
“One of our team members noticed a paper bag floating around and when he went on to open it, he was shocked to find the remains of an infant. Minutes later, we found another body of a girl dumped around the same area,” Okinda said.
Korogocho area has become synonymous with dumping of dead bodies in the area, despite previous measures to tame it.
Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has urged the police to come up with more concrete solutions that will help nab those dumping babies and promoting abortion.
“I think the police have a big role to play. I know they have been working tirelessly to curb this vice but we note that it’s beginning to resurface again. They will need to be more vigilant,” Sonko said.
ABORTIONS
The governor has called on area residents to be on the lookout as well and act as vigilantes to help report those perpetrating the vice.
Beatrice Muema, a children rights activist working with Kangemi Childline Organisation, says that most of the cases are usually teenage pregnancies caused by defilement.
The girls, she says, fall victim of contracting illegal abortions.
“Most of the cases are about defilement but reported to us as a teenage pregnancy. When we dig deeper we realise that the child was either defiled by a grown up, but the child they thought that they are in a relationship,” Muema said.
Nairobi County Government launched the clean-up exercise last year in a bid to transform the city.
The Nairobi River has over the years turned into a sewer following the discharge of waste from factories into the river and its tributaries.