Police Investigates Death Of Day-Old Baby In Anambra

Edith CHUKU

Shocked by how a human being can abandon a newborn baby in a sack to die,
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Itam, has ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.

The lifeless body of the newborn baby was found in a sack near a refuse dump after Aroma Junction, along Ifite Road in Awka, the state capital.

In a statement on Monday, the state Police Spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, said preliminary investigations revealed that the baby was abandoned by yet unidentified woman suspected to be the mother, adding that the body has been recovered.

According to the PRO, “Preliminary investigations revealed that the child should be a day old and was abandoned by yet unidentified woman suspected to be the mother. Meanwhile, the body has been recovered and the Police are currently working with some eyewitness information at the scene for possible arrest of the perpetrator.

“To this end, the CP decries moral decay in Society and describes the act as ungodly, barbaric, and inhuman.

“He also urges parents/guardians to pay greater attention to children/wards and call on anyone with useful information that can aid the investigation to come forward to the police command headquarters in this regard.

“You can call the command control room number at 07039194332 or the PPRO at 08039334002. Confidentiality of information is guaranteed.”

Report revealed that “the situation was said to have generated dust when a commercial tricycle operator, picking up passengers near the scene was almost lynched for nearly running over the bag, apparently unaware of its content.”

Residents and passersby in the area expressed the belief that the baby who was wrapped in old clothes must have been dumped alive.

They further claimed that the child was heard crying for several hours in the night before the bag was found in the morning.