Final-year student arrested for abandoning newborn in bush

The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested a woman for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a bush in Akwanga Local Government Area of the state.

The baby, wrapped in a piece of cloth, was discovered near a primary school on AA Koto Street in Akwanga on Wednesday. Residents who found the infant alive quickly alerted the police.

Confirming the arrest to newsmen in Lafia on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ramhan Nansel, said the Commissioner of Police had ordered the case transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for thorough investigation and prosecution.

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He said, “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.”

It was gathered that the suspect is a final-year NCE student of the College of Education, Akwanga.

The incident has sparked outrage among residents, many of whom expressed shock and anger over the abandonment.

Similar cases have been recorded in other states.

In July, a farmer in Kamba town, Dandi Local Government Area of Kebbi State, rescued a newborn baby girl who had been buried alive on his farmland.

The farmer, Kabiru Kamba, said he noticed an unusual ridge on his farm and invited motorcyclists to help dig. They discovered the baby wrapped in a cloth, crying and still alive.

Kamba informed security operatives, and the child was later placed in his custody by the Dandi Local Government Council.

Out of compassion, he and his wife, who had recently given birth, took in the baby and planned her naming ceremony.

These recurring incidents have continued to raise concerns about the rising cases of child abandonment across Nigeria.