A young lady, simply identified as Sughshater Ushahemba, has been arrested by operatives of the Benue State Police Command for allegedly killing her 11-year-old baby.
Her arrest was verified on Monday by the Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP Catherine Anene, who stated that the suspect had been brought into custody for further investigation.
According to reports, the lady from Mbadyul Council Ward of Logo Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state allegedly killed the baby after feeding her a weed-killing pesticide.
Mr. Paul Pevikyaa, the Information Officer of Logo LGA, who confirmed the development, stated that when the wife was interviewed, she offered inconsistent accounts of how the infant died.
According to Pevikyaa, “the said woman is from Mbadyul Council Ward in Logo LGA. When she was interviewed, she said they were all in bed, and at about 12:31 a.m., the baby started having a high fever. She said the body was so hot to the point that she gave up in two hours.
“She claimed that the mistake she made was that when day broke, she failed to inform her neighbours about what happened in the night because there is a strong belief that when you have neighbours and when you are having difficulties at night, at least you can call your neighbours to help you and they can be your witnesses.
“But she never did that. So when it was morning, she attempted to bury the 11-month-old baby.
“If it were not intentional, she would have informed the next person. So for her to have attempted to bury the child without telling anyone, it meant she had something to hide.
“When the woman was further questioned, she confessed the real reason why she killed her child.”
Pevikyaa added that “she later confessed that she was impregnated by her boyfriend, and after she gave birth to a baby girl, the boy abandoned her with the child. And because she was suffering with the child, that was why she poisoned her.
“According to her, she gave her the chemical that is used for the killing of grasses.”