Woman steals Day-old baby in Yola

A 23-year-old woman, Maryam Sani has stolen a newborn baby from an unnamed hospital in Ngurore, Yola South local government area of Adamawa State.

Maryam explained that she was afraid to tell her husband about her miscarriage after three months of pregnancy, which led to her decision to steal the baby.

She mentioned that there was no staff at the hospital, including the nurses who were supposed to be on duty when she visited from Numan for her check-ups.

She avoided visiting her husband deliberately due to her plan to steal a newborn, saying the opportunity arose when the baby’s mother and her relatives were sleeping outside.

“I was at the hospital for a checkup because I was not feeling well. I didn’t take the baby girl for any malicious reason or because someone asked me to, but because I love her.

“Nobody could suspect me since the community believed I was pregnant, and we held a naming ceremony for her as my own biological child without my husband knowing how the baby came to be,” Maryam said.

She also revealed that she induced lactation with medication to breastfeed the stolen baby.

“I used medication to produce milk and have been breastfeeding her,” she said.

She was arrested after the biological parents reported the incident to the police, leading to an investigation.

Maryam fled to Taraba State to evade arrest when Adamawa Police Command officers came to her house, resulting in her husband’s arrest. Her husband’s detention prompted Maryam to return to Adamawa with the baby, and she was subsequently apprehended.

The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, stated that the police will not allow any criminals to operate freely in Adamawa State and assured that Maryam will be prosecuted according to the law.