By Atoyebi Nike
The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested a woman for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a bush near a primary school on AA Koto Street, Akwanga Local Government Area.
The infant, wrapped in a piece of cloth, was discovered alive by residents on Wednesday, who quickly alerted the police.
Police spokesperson SP Ramhan Nansel confirmed the arrest in Lafia on Thursday, saying the Commissioner of Police had directed the case to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Lafia, for full investigation and prosecution.
“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,” Nansel stated.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect is a final-year NCE student at the College of Education, Akwanga.
The incident has sparked outrage among locals, many of whom expressed shock and anger over the act.
Child abandonment remains a recurring concern across Nigeria. In July, a farmer in Kamba town, Dandi LGA of Kebbi State, rescued a newborn baby girl who had been buried alive on his farmland. The farmer, Kabiru Kamba, discovered the baby after noticing an unusual ridge on his farm. With help from passersby, he unearthed the crying child, still wrapped in cloth.
Kamba handed the baby over to security operatives and later took her into his family’s care after the Dandi Local Government Council placed the child in his custody. He and his wife, who had recently given birth, went ahead to plan the baby’s naming ceremony.
Rights advocates have warned that such cases highlight a troubling rise in child abandonment across Nigeria, urging stronger social protection systems and community interventions.
