FCT Police Trace Mother of Abandoned Newborn After Neighbours’ Tip-Off

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has identified and spoken with the mother of a one-day-old baby girl who was abandoned along a road in the Galadima area of Abuja on Monday, September 12, 2026.

Police Public Relations Officer SP Josephine Adeh confirmed that the woman, identified only as Soliat and originally from Oyo State, has accounted for the incident. According to Adeh, Soliat told investigators she was gang-raped by four men while living in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

After the assault, she relocated to Abuja and moved in with her brother. Fearing he would force her out if he discovered the pregnancy, she concealed her condition throughout the months that followed. She described living in constant shame, knowing she could not determine the child’s paternity and having failed in earlier attempts to terminate the pregnancy.

After giving birth, Soliat placed the newborn in a carton, left the package by the roadside in Galadima, and remained nearby to watch. She later told police she saw a passer-by discover the infant and take the child to Galadima Police Station.

The breakthrough came after Adeh publicised the case online. Neighbours who had observed Soliat’s pregnancy confronted her; under questioning she admitted the abandoned baby was hers.

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The discovery of the Galadima infant formed part of a troubling pattern. It was reported as the third abandoned newborn found in the FCT within roughly two weeks, following separate rescues in Kurudu and Gwagwalada earlier in September. Police have repeatedly appealed for information that could reunite other abandoned infants with their families and have condemned the practice of child abandonment.

Investigations continue. The baby is under the care of relevant authorities while the command determines the next legal steps.