By Deborah Nnamdi
The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested a woman, Khadija Ali, for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby.
Ali reportedly dumped her baby along a bush path near Crush Rock, behind the uncompleted Red Bricks Market in Mpape, Abuja.
A statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, on Monday revealed that the baby, believed to be just a day old, was discovered at about 10:00 AM on Friday after police operatives from the Mpape Division’s Juvenile and Women Care Section responded to a distress call.
Adeh said the infant, wrapped in a cloth, was rescued and taken to the Mpape Primary Health Care Centre for medical evaluation where a medical personnel confirmed that the child was in stable condition.
The statement partly read, “On Friday, January 3, 2025, at about 10:00 AM, police operatives from the Mpape Division’s Juvenile and Women Care Section responded to a distress call and found the baby wrapped in a cloth. The child was promptly rescued and taken to Mpape Primary Health Care Centre, where medical evaluation confirmed the baby was in stable condition.
“Following a tip-off from the community, the baby’s mother, Khadija Ali, was arrested. During interrogation, she confessed to abandoning the baby, citing her inability to care for the child following her husband’s abandonment,” Adeh said.
Condemning the incident, Adeh described it as a grave violation of the rights of the child noting that Ali would be charged to court for allegedly violating Sections 14 and 16 of the Child Rights Act 2003.
“The FCT Police Command vehemently condemns this act of child abandonment and reassures the public of its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of society.
”The rescued baby will be handed over to the Department of Social Welfare for proper care, while the mother will face prosecution according to the provisions of Sections 14 and 16 of the Child Rights Act 2003 upon the conclusion of investigations,” the statement added.
