LAFIA: The people of Akwanga town in Nasarawa State are still struggling to come to terms with a chilling discovery made on Wednesday morning – a newborn baby girl, barely a day old, dumped in a bush and left to die.
Wrapped in cloth and abandoned near Hope Academy Primary School in the popular A.A. Koto area, the infant’s cries pierced the quiet of the community, drawing residents who rushed to her rescue.
“She was so tiny, wrapped up and lying helpless in the grass,” recalled one resident who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity. “It is something I will never forget. How can a mother do this?”
The child was found alive and handed over to the police, sparking both relief and outrage in equal measure.
By Thursday, the Nasarawa State Police Command confirmed it had arrested the mother of the baby.
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ramhan Nansel, said the suspect, a final-year NCE student of the College of Education, Akwanga, was already in custody.
“The mother of the baby has been identified and arrested. The Commissioner of Police has directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia for comprehensive investigation and prosecution,” Nansel said.
While the investigation deepens, the baby remains under the protection of authorities.
News of the discovery spread quickly across Akwanga, leaving many residents reeling in disbelief.
“We are still in shock,” said another resident. “How can someone carry a child for nine months, deliver her safely, and then abandon her in the bush? It is heartbreaking.”
The case has drawn sympathy for the child, but also conversations around the struggles young women face, particularly students without support systems.
Incidents of child abandonment, though not new in parts of the country, continue to spark concern among communities and social workers. Poverty, stigma surrounding unwanted pregnancies, and lack of access to proper counseling and welfare support are often cited as underlying causes.
For Akwanga residents, however, the explanations do little to ease the pain of what could have been a tragedy.
As of now, the infant’s cries — heard just in time — may have been her only shield against a different fate.
“If not for the people who found her, we might have been telling a different story today,” said the eyewitness. “God truly saved that child.”
The police have assured that justice will take its course, but for many in Akwanga, the haunting image of a newborn abandoned in the bush will linger for a long time.
