One Aliyu Yaro, 19 years old, has allegedly strangled his three-day-old child in Adamawa State.
He, however, blamed his action on his economic predicament.
The teenage father was reported to have stolen the three-day-old baby boy from his lover, simply identified as Safiya, murdered him and buried the remains in a shallow grave inside an uncompleted building.
The incident happened on November 7, 2024, at Kwacham, in the Mubi North Local Government Area, according to the deceased baby’s mother.
As gathered, his lover had mounted pressure on him to provide upkeep for her and the newborn.
However, he decided to end the child’s life so as to escape family responsibility.
“It’s true; he’s not been providing for me and my baby since I delivered three days before the incident. I’ve complained and threatened to report him to the authorities.
“So he came to my house on the ill-fated night around 8:30, I left him in my room with the baby to buy water at a nearby store; surprisingly when I returned, he was gone with the baby. I reported the incident to the police, who swiftly got him arrested the following day; unfortunately he had already killed the baby,” Safiya narrated.
The spokesperson for the Adamawa State Police Command, SP Suleiman Nguroje has confirmed the incident, saying, “the couple has been taken into custody.”
He added, “The Adamawa State Police Command has on the 8th November, 2024 apprehended a 19-year-old Aliyu Yaro for allegedly killing his 3-day old baby boy.
“The suspect, Aliyu, who hails from Kwacham ward, in Mubi North local Government, was accused by Safiya his girlfriend of murdering the victim 3 days after she gave birth to him.
“During interrogations he confessed to the heinous crime and took the police where the remain were buried and were exhumed.
“He narrated that, he had impregnated the mother of the deceased who happens to be his girlfriend (now the complainant), and after delivery, she kept calling him to come and carry the baby.
“He said that he went to the house of his girlfriend in the night after calling him and carried the infant and left with him after he had sent the mother on errand.
“He further narrated that he singlehandedly carried the corpse around 9:00pm and buried it in the Girpata area in Mubi,” Nguroje said.