Woman gets five-year jail term for abandoning baby

Wa, Aug. 25 GNA - Jamila Yakubu, a 26-year-old trader, would spend the next five years in prison for abandoning her day-old baby in a gutter that resulted in its death.

Jamila was found guilty by a Wa circuit court, presided over by Alhaji Mohammed Mustapha after a trial, which lasted for over one year. She pleaded not guilty to causing harm to the child. Prosecuting, Inspector Joseph Noble Mantey told the court that Jamila was a trader who lived at Dobile, a suburb of Wa, whilst the complainant, Mr. Omar Ibn Mohammed was the Assemblyman for Dobile electoral area.

On July nine last year at about 2130 hours the assemblyman was informed of the discovery of the day-old baby girl wrapped in a black polythene bag in a gutter near the SDA Junior Secondary School in Wa. The assemblyman sent the baby to the Wa police station and later to the regional hospital for medical attention but she died the next day while on admission.

Inspector Mantey said the matter was referred to the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) for investigations.

According to the police Jamila confessed abandoning the baby citing hardship as the main factor that compelled her to throw the baby away.