After 18yrs, Nigerian woman gives birth to five babies

A 42-year-old woman has given birth to five babies (quintuplets) at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja, Kogi, after 18 years of barrenness.

A correspondent of NAN who visited the woman and her babies at the hospital on Friday reports that both mother, Mrs Uchenna Okeigbo and her kids are in good condition.

Okeigbo, an indigene of Olokoro Amangbo Community, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia, gave birth to three boys and two girls on April 17 through a Caesarean Section.

Speaking with newsmen, the woman expressed gratitude to God for the rare gift of five babies, saying that her wait for 18 years did not end in vain.

“It is not easy to have five children at once,” Okeigbo said. She showered praises on her husband for standing by her. The quintuplets, three boys and two girls, weighed 1.3kg 1.6kg, 1.7kg, 1.8kg and 1.9kg, respectively.

The father of the quintuplets, Mr James Okeigbo, 47, an employee of a private establishment, who was overwhelmed with joy, described the coming of the babies as the happiest moment of his life and his wife as well.

”I thank my wife for retaining her respect for me for this 18 years of childlessness without quarreling with me. “I am also grateful to her family for standing by us,” Okeigbo said. He, however, solicited for assistance from government and members of the public to ensure adequate care for the five children. ‘ As a good citizen of Nigeria, I am appealing to government to help us,” he said.

– NAN