The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested a woman accused of abandoning her newborn baby in a bush in Akwanga Local Government Area.
The infant, wrapped in a piece of cloth, was found near a primary school on AA Koto Street in Akwanga on Wednesday. Concerned residents, who discovered the baby alive, immediately alerted the police.
Confirming the incident in Lafia on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ramhan Nansel, said the suspect, identified as the child’s mother, had been taken into custody. “The mother of the baby has been identified and arrested. The Commissioner of Police has ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Lafia, for thorough investigation and prosecution,” he stated.
It was learnt that the suspect is a final-year NCE student at the College of Education, Akwanga. The case has stirred outrage in the community, with residents expressing shock and anger over the abandonment.
Similar cases of child abandonment have recently been reported in other parts of Nigeria. In July, a farmer in Kamba town, Dandi Local Government Area of Kebbi State, rescued a baby girl who had been buried alive on his farm. The farmer, Kabiru Kamba, noticed a strange ridge and, with the help of others, unearthed the crying child. The baby, later placed in his custody by local authorities, was taken in by Kamba and his wife, who planned a naming ceremony for her.
These recurring incidents have continued to fuel public concern about the rising trend of child abandonment across the country.
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