The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has detained a woman for allegedly abandoning her one-day old baby along a bush path in Abuja.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, SP Josephine Adeh, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
She said the abandoned one-day-old baby was recovered and rescued along a bush path near Crush Rock, behind an uncompleted Red Bricks Market in Mpape area.
Adeh said the recovery of the baby by operatives from Mpape Division’s Juvenile and Women Care Section (JWC) on Jan. 3, followed a distress call that a baby was found wrapped in a cloth.
According to her, upon getting to the scene, the operatives promptly rescued and took the baby to Mpape Primary Health Care Center, where medical evaluation confirmed that the baby was in stable condition.
She said the baby’s mother was arrested and detained following a tip off from the community, adding that she had confessed to abandoning the baby during interrogation.
The police spokesperson said the mother cited her inability to care for the child after her husband’s abandonment of her as reason for the act.
Adeh expressed the command’s dissatisfaction and condemnation of act of child abandonment and pledged commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of society.
The FCT police spokesperson said the rescued baby would be handed over to the Department of Social Welfare for proper care.
She said the mother would be made to face prosecution in line with the provisions of sections 14 and 16 of the Child Rights Act (CRA), 2003 upon the conclusion of investigations.
Adeh commended the public for its cooperation and support that led to the rescue of the baby.
She urged FCT residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities or emergencies to the command through its emergency lines on 08061581938, 08032003913, 08028940883, CRU: 08107314192, PCB: 09022222352. (NAN)
