Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) Corps Marshal, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (retd.), and LAGESC spokesperson, Lukman Ajayi, on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, confirmed the rescue of a five-month-old baby girl and her mother from a canal at Abule-Ado along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, after KAI operatives discovered the pair during a routine clearance operation.
The five-month-old baby was reportedly in poor health when the operatives found her, prompting an immediate intervention and transfer of both mother and child to a nearby hospital.
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Ajayi said the mother could not give a satisfactory explanation for why she and her daughter were in the canal.
According to Ajayi, the woman told the operatives that she had been running away from her husband, who lived in FESTAC.
“Today, our operatives rescued a mother and her five-month-old baby girl from a canal at Abule-Ado during routine clearance operations on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway,” Ajayi said.
“Both the mother and the child have been taken to the hospital. The child was not in a good state of health when they were rescued.”
The account leaves important questions unanswered. The circumstances surrounding the mother’s decision to take refuge in the canal have not been independently established, and there is no indication that the authorities have publicly determined whether domestic violence, homelessness, poverty or another factor was involved.
That distinction matters because the incident is not simply an environmental sanitation story.
The discovery of a mother and infant in such a hazardous location points to a potentially serious welfare concern, particularly where a woman says she was fleeing her husband.
Lagos State already has structures intended to respond to domestic and social vulnerability.
The Lagos State Citizens Gate platform states that residents can report child, sexual and domestic abuse, while the state maintains a Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency.
The latest rescue also comes against the backdrop of another troubling discovery on the same expressway.
On August 10, KAI operatives rescued four nursing mothers and their children from an illegal dumpsite at Agboju during an inter-agency operation to clear illegal dumpsites, shanties and other environmental violations along the Lagos-Badagry corridor.
The four women were identified as Fareedat Muyideen, 23, from Kwara State, who had her two-year-old child; Ayomide Ayomoke, 25, from Ondo State, with her 10-month-old baby; Amanda Oziema Abalihi, 20, from Anambra State, with her nine-day-old baby; and Chisom Ugo, 24, from Imo State, with her 11-month-old baby.
The nine-day-old infant was the most striking detail of that earlier operation.
The baby was reportedly found in surroundings marked by refuse, poor air quality and inadequate access to basic necessities.
The mothers and their children were subsequently taken for medical assistance.
Major Olaniyi Cole had described the conditions in which the women were found as inhumane, while explaining that the expressway cleanup had been continuing for weeks to address environmental infractions and obstructions.
Taken together, the two incidents within roughly two weeks create a more sobering picture of vulnerability along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The locations differ, but the presence of very young children in places never intended for habitation raises concerns that environmental enforcement alone cannot resolve.
LAGESC’s wider mandate is centred on environmental sanitation and enforcement. In a stakeholders’ engagement on August 25, Cole called for stronger community participation and voluntary compliance with environmental laws, while acknowledging that enforcement alone could not solve Lagos’ sanitation challenges.
That principle is particularly relevant when sanitation operations uncover families living in dangerous conditions.
Removing people from a dumpsite or canal may eliminate an immediate physical hazard, but it does not necessarily address the circumstances that placed them there.
Lagos State has also identified women’s welfare and poverty alleviation as areas requiring government intervention.
The state government’s Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation has programmes aimed at supporting vulnerable residents, including skills development and economic empowerment initiatives.
For the mother rescued at Abule-Ado, however, the immediate priority remains more basic: the health of her five-month-old daughter and the safety of both mother and child.
The hospital treatment represents a crucial first step. A fuller response would also require the appropriate welfare and protection authorities to establish what led the pair into the canal, assess the mother’s account of fleeing her husband, and determine what safe accommodation and longer-term support may be necessary.
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The rescue is therefore both a welcome intervention and a powerful reminder of the fragile circumstances that can remain hidden in the margins of a rapidly expanding city.
Mariam Balogun is a contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
