A woman, identified as Barkisu Sulaiman, has been arrested by residents of Karaworo-Lokoja, for dumping her newborn baby into a drainage, News About Nigeria reports.
This was confirmed by the Kogi State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Paul Igweibuke, in a statement on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the woman, who is a housewife, was arrested on Tuesday, following a tip-off from a woman in the Kabawa area of Lokoja, who is said to be a close confidante of the suspect.
The lady, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that she was touched by the condition of the abandoned baby. She rushed to an elderly man in Karaworo-Lokoja and confessed to him the crime committed by her friend.
According to her, Barkisu had once mentioned that she was carrying a seven-month pregnancy for one of her ailing husband’s servants residing in Adankolo-Lokoja.
She also revealed that the alleged father of her friend’s baby, who is reportedly at large, had denied responsibility for the pregnancy and advised her to terminate it.
Following this, residents took action against Barkisu and arrested her.
Barkisu, however, confessed that she threw her one-day-old baby into the gutter because she had cheated on her ailing husband.
The Kogi State NSCDC, who confirmed the arrest, stated that the mother is in custody of the Defence Corps, adding that an investigation has commenced into the incident.
“She is in our custody, and an investigation is in progress to dig deeper into the incident,” Igweibuke stated.