• Why they withdrew support for sick baby
• “When we started calling on the general public to assist in raising funds for Micheal Alvarez treatment, we got the shock of our lives when a woman called us to say she had seen this same child in December 2015 on TVC where they gave the same account number we had put on air”.

By Anino Aganbi

Representatives of Project Alert along with members of the Rescuers have recently disclosed to members of the press that the organization will be returning funds raised to help Baby Micheal’s cause. This was anchored by Josephine Chukwuma, Executive Director,  Project Alert.

With the outbreak of domestic violence being focused on mainly women, it will blow the mind that not even children are exempted from this new madness, and this is perhaps even more insidious. It boggles the mind when you see a mother who abuses her child physically, emotionally or psychologically. With people fighting against domestic violence against the women, the question remains: who is fighting for the under dogs which are the children?   What in particular are government agencies and non governmental bodies doing to protect the rights of these children who should be the least people abused in the society by their parents? The shocking part of this is when you see a mother using her own child to beg on the street. There are   parents who go as far as   exploiting a child’s ailment to make money out of it without looking at the child’s welfare. Such is the case of Micheal, a three year old child whose story touched the heart of many. But alas, it would seem that this child who should be getting medical help is only being exploited by those who claimed to love him the most.

Project Alert

Baby Micheal Alvez with Kate Henshaw

Speaking at a press briefing, Josephine Chukwuma, (ED Project Alert) related: “ on March 16, 2016, a group of women who we tagged as the Rescuers which comprises of Kate Henshaw, Aramide Kasunmu and Temitope Oluwagbemi rescued a very sick baby off the streets of Lagos and got him admitted into Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH. Kate Henshaw being the brand ambassador of Project Alert then contacted us to help coordinate all the assistance Micheal needed. The rescuers were told that Micheal’s stay in the hospital would be a long one because he had Facial Hemangioma,  an abnormal buildup of blood vessels on or under the surface of the skin.   With this information, the Rescuers had a meeting with Project Alert in attendance where it was agreed that with Micheal’s anticipated long stay in the hospital and uncertainty over what the battery of tests to be conducted on him would result in, it would be financially tasking for the Rescuers alone who had for almost three weeks personally paid   for Micheal’s medical bills and upkeep as well as his mothers upkeep.   They then decided to raise funds from friends, family members and also the general public.

Kate Henshaw’s story

Relating her own side of the story, movie veteran Kate Henshaw recalls she    had just got off the bridge around Marina in Lagos when she walked into a mother and her child begging for alms. “Because I am a mother, I felt compassion for this child who had a growth on the face which I later got to know was Facial Hemangioma. I got talking with the child’s mother and found out his name   is Micheal Alvez.   I collected her mobile number and got in touch with her from time to time.

In April of 2016, I got in touch with the hospital about Micheal Alvez condition and found out he could be operated on but it was going to be a very long process as he had to be in and out of the hospital for a very long time. Realizing I could not bear the burden of the cost alone because I had already paid for the first surgery, I had to start calling my friends and family to contribute towards Micheal’s medical bill. But I needed proper guidance, so I had to involve Project Alert since they had a broader platform and could assist better.

I personally paid for Micheal’s first surgery and his upkeep allowance together with his mother. I had to call out for help because every week he spent in the hospital cost nothing less than N80,000 aside from what was spent on his mother.

At this point, Project Alert was requested to be the host organizer for the account along with Kate Henshaw, Josephine Chukwuma and Micheal’s mother as signatory. During the process of opening the account, we got an information that Micheal’s mother had allegedly duped members of the public some months before in December 2015, when TVC- a popular television station- helped her raise N700,00 from the public with one person donating N460,000 purportedly for Micheal’s treatment, yet two months later, the Rescuers still found her on the road. As a result of this, we chose not to make Micheal’s mother a signatory to the account. The account was opened and publicized. Donations came in from members of the public, the Rescuers and their friends.”

TVCs Role

Henshaw further recounts, “when we started calling on the general public to assist in raising funds for Micheal Alvez treatment, we got the shock of our lives when a woman called us to say she had seen this same child in December 2015 on TVC where they gave the same account number we had put on   air. She said she personally paid N450,000 into the account. So, we called Micheal’s mother to ask her if it was true, which she affirmed to. Personally, I did not see any reason funds were supposedly raised for Micheal’s treatment in December and by the time I met him in March 2016 nothing had been done about his health. With this new development, Project Alert, myself and my friends, Aramide Kasunmu and Temitope Oluwagbemi decided to open another account for Micheal and decided not to make his mother a signatory to the account as we had initially planned”.

Frustration

Chukwuma further bemoans the frustration of her group about the Micheal matter. “The last one year of our medical intervention to help Micheal has been a very emotional and frustrating one for the Rescuers and Project Alert. The major frustration was from Micheal’s family who have been very uncooperative, greedy and antagonistic. Their antagonism was not only restricted to Project Alert and the Rescuers but also to different government agencies who were responsible for the care and protection of Micheal.

In November 2016, Micheal’s aunty, Syndi Ezeanyeji contacted us through her lawyer, Bisuga & co. requesting for information on the account and money raised. During the same time, The Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, had written a report about Micheal’s medical and social welfare issues. In December 23, 2016, Micheal was supposed to be placed in a Lagos state approved home to enable him receive the proper hygienic care that would complement the treatment Doctors at LUTH were going to give him, alas Micheal’s aunt and grandmother rejected all efforts made by Lagos state’s welfare department to do so.

“By February 2017, all parties involved were present at a meeting held by the Social Welfare department, when the child’s aunt said she didn’t want any further medical assistance from the Rescuers, demanding that the child be released to her and his grandmother to which effect  she signed an affidavit, and that the funds should be released to her.

As an organization, Project Alert believes in transparency and accountability. It is to this effect that since the family has asked us to withdraw; we believe it is right to inform the general public: anybody who made a donation to this cause should kindly contact us with proof of payment within the next two months so that we can refund money to the public.   Although the family, in frustration, has decided to raise funds by themselves by opening a facebook account in Michael’s name, We are using this forum to notify the public that neither Project Alert nor the rescuers are in any way associated with that facebook account.”