Woman (26) dies ‘hours after’ an abortion in Lagos

Residents of Abiodun street in Somolu local government area of Lagos state were on early hours of Tuesday thrown into mourning when a young trained hairdresser named Anuoluwa Oguntuga (26) was reported to have lost her life owing to complications from an abortion.

According to an eye witness account, the deceased was said to have complained of stomach ache and the mother took steps to find a remedy to the health issue so as for her to regain her sanity only for her condition to deteriorate within few minutes which resulted in her being rushed to General Hospital, Gbagada where she was pronounced dead.

As at the time of filing this report, It’s not clear whether her lover was responsible for this or her decision but the test conducted on her by the doctor revealed that she had an abortion.

Anuoluwa, a skinny, stabilized sickle cell anemia patient and the last daughter of the family had just completed her Hairdressing apprenticeship and was about to establish her outfit when she met her untimely death.

Sympathizers have since been thronging the victim’s parents to register their condolences with family on the demise of their daughter, Anuoluwapo.

Meanwhile, the case according to a source close to the family has been reported at the nearby Police station for further investigation.

In Nigeria according to research, unsafe abortion contributes to a significant proportion of maternal mortality and morbidity in the country.

Current laws which criminalize abortion in Nigeria put the jail term for the victim at 7 years (if alive) while the performer stands at 14 years. The law, however, does not reduce the number of abortions.

Instead, these strict laws mean that many women are forced to seek the service of unqualified practitioners with resultant high morbidity and mortality, both of which are unacceptable prices to pay for pregnancy.