JEDDAH: On Sunday morning, Okaz/Saudi Gazette reporters Arwa Khashefati and Asma Al-Ghabri decided to probe the effectiveness of security in hospitals, after the incident at the Maternity and Children's Hospital in Madina, where a newborn baby boy was kidnapped in broad daylight. The reporters decided that they would investigate the Maternity and Children's Hospital in Jeddah; its director has said surveillance cameras are planted everywhere in the hospital. Khashefati and Al-Ghabri came to learn that cameras do not cover entrances there, which paves the way for anyone to enter or leave without being noticed. Despite a massive presence of security guards throughout the hospital, the two reporters decided to go ahead with their plan; they felt that nothing could prevent them from carrying out their mission to leave with a baby – with the knowledge of the baby's mother and her sister, who had been told of the plan and gave their consent. Roaming inside the hospital is not restricted, especially during the visiting hours and before them, which led the reporters to believe the task would be that much easier. Khashefati and Al-Ghabri set their target and told a patient about their plan, but they learned she was there for an operation and had no children. They moved on and looked for and found a woman who had given birth at the hospital. They explained fully to her that they wanted to probe the effectiveness of the hospital's surveillance system in the hospital. The woman agreed to help them and told her sister about the plan in order to ensure the return of her baby, if anything should go wrong. Everyone all agreed to carry out the plan Monday. The reporters were eagerly looking forward to the day and at the set time, they went to the hospital, but they noticed strange movements among the guards, as if there was an emergency. They found that the security guards were on a high alert, which made them suspicious, and they started inquiring about the matter. They learned that the first woman they spoke to had told hospital administrators about their plan and that the hospital's manager immediately shifted the second woman to another room. In order to clarify the matter, the two reporters called the first woman but her telephone was turned off. This led them to believe that the first woman had reported them to the hospital administration. “When the security guards, who were definitely told about us, pretended that they wanted to help, they led us to the first woman's room and she surprised us by revealing our identities to the guards,” one of the reporters said. “This left us with no choice but to reveal our identities. All of a sudden we found ourselves surrounded by four security guards who led us to the hospital's night manager. Amazingly, we found three night managers waiting for us. This made us believe more than ever that these tight security measures were not because of the guards' alertness and vigilance, but because they had been told of our plans. “The hospital's manager questioned us and took our testimony in a record, despite the fact that he showed great understanding for our task. Believe it or not, after one hour, they led us to the police station in Al-Sharafia. The police were aware of the whole scenario because hospital officials had reported us to them.” The two reporters stayed in the police station for two-and-a-half hours until their identities were verified according to a letter signed by the Okaz editor-in-chief, which stated that they were on an official assignment. While waiting for the editor's letter, we asked the police to take us to the detention center but they said they did not have one, one of the reporters said. When the situation was over, the police officer in charge showed great understanding for the nature of the task and the task of newspapers to pinpoint shortcomings with the objective of overcoming them to serve the public interest, the reporters said.
