A 32-year-old man identified as Muyiwa Ayorinde narrowly escaped death after he was caught dumping his baby in a canal in Oke-Aro area of Akure.

Muyiwa was beaten almost to a coma by a mob attracted by the cry of the baby.

It was timely intervention of security operatives that saved him from being killed.

Witnesses said he was spotted by a resident in the area while throwing a black nylon containing the three- week-old baby into the canal but the cry of the baby gave him out.

Some persons were said to have jumped into the canal to rescue the baby while others held the suspects.

The rescued baby was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment but later died.

Lawal Oloruntoba, who lives close to the canal, said: “I saw the young man looking strange as he alighted from the Okada and pulled out a black bag and dropped it into the canal.

“When we heard a baby’s voice cried out. Then we knew what he had come to do.

“People have been coming from different places to dump things in this canal. We have to make it as a point of duty to make sure it stopped.

“This man is a wicked man to have come here to dump his own child. Thank God for the swift intervention of the security men that came around.

“I am sure with the kind of anger I saw on people here they would have killed him”.

One security operative, who rescued Ayorinde and handed him over to the police, said he wad delivered him to the DPO ‘B’ Division for prosecution.

According to him: “We rescued the child to a nearby hospital and handed the injured man over to DPO of B Division area command of the Nigeria police.

Ondo police spokesman, ASP Tee-Leo Ikoro, said he was yet to be briefed.

By Osagie Otabor