A girl and her boyfriend were, yesterday, brought before an Upper Area Court 3 in Jos, Plateau State, for dumping their three-week-old baby girl by the roadside.
The girl, a 15-year-old student, was arraigned alongside her boyfriend, Abdullahi Ismail, the suspected father of the abandoned child.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the offence punishable under Sections 97 and 237 of the Penal Code.
The prosecutor, Sergeant Ahmed Labaran, told the court that the case was reported to Angwan Rogo Police Station by one Abdulkarim Danbadawai of Angwan Rogo on January 19.
According to him, the abandoned baby was recovered and brought to the station by Danbadawai.
The prosecutor alleged that the accused met twice in a hotel at Chobe Junction in Jos after which she became pregnant.
“The accused’s mother (Zainab) was ashamed of her daughter’s act of indecency and begged her to go to Abuja to stay with a relation till she delivers the baby,” Labaran said.
The girl later brought the three-week-old child to Jos to look for the father.
Labaran said on meeting the father, Zainab gave him his child and ran away, but the father allegedly dumped the baby instantly and also ran.
“The poor baby girl was left alone crying, before she was picked and brought to the station,” Labaran said.
The judge, Yahaya Mohammed, ordered the ward head in the area, whose wife just gave birth, to keep the baby under his custody for nursing and adjourned the case until February 16 for further hearing. (NAN)
