A man, Abubakar Ibrahim, 25, has reportedly choked his two-month-old child to death. The Tuesday incident occurred after the man failed to take care of the baby and the woman who delivered the child for him out of wedlock. The sad incident occurred at Unguwan Yandan in Jalingo, Taraba State.
It was gathered that suspect the child’s mother, Karshe Harmuel, also 25, were living together as lovers before she got pregnant. It was also learnt that when Karshe was closed to the Expected Day of Delivery (EDD), she left Ibrahim to live with her uncle, which is not far from her lover’s house.
After she gave birth to a baby boy, Karshe’s family members said Ibrahim ended the relationship and left her to take care of the baby. Karshe told our correspondent that when she woke up on that fateful day, she had no soap to bathe the child. According to her, she decided to go and meet Ibrahim for money to buy soap and baby lotion. She said:
“When I met him in the room, I asked him why he abandoned us. I told him since he decided to jilt me; he had to take care of his son. As I realised that he was not willing to listen to me, I left the baby with him and returned home. “A few minutes after I went back to pick my baby, I saw the man choking the neck of the baby.”
Her uncle’s wife, Cecilia Hosea, said she urged Karshe to go back and pick her child. She said: “I asked Karshe to go back and pick the baby. When she brought back the baby, I collected the child I then saw a white fluid coming out from his month. I noticed that the baby had died. Karshe did not know that she was carrying a dead baby.” Karshe’s uncle, Mr. John Hosea, who took care of her and the child, said he travelled to the village when the incident happened. He said:
“I was in the village when the incident happened. If I were at home when Karshe decided to take the baby to the man, I would not have allowed her. “I did not even know the man, I just saw him today at the police station and I told them at the station that the man was lucky I was in the village when he killed my grandchild, because I would have taken a revenge on him.
“The man is very wicked, because since Karshe delivered he only came to see her once, when he gave her N1,700 and told her that he named the child Ali.” When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Joseph Kwaji, confirmed the incident. Kwaji said the baby’s body was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jalingo, for autopsy and that the suspect was in police custody. He said the case was still under investigation. The PPRO added that the suspect would be taken to court after the investigation was concluded.