A 30-year-old woman, Patricia Nebechi, was on Wednesday, arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Birnin Kebbi for allegedly stealing a new-born baby from a hospital in Kebbi.
The Prosecutor, Inspector Muntari Mati, said the defendant, who hails from Tambuwal town in Sokoto State, is standing trial on a two-count charge of culpable homicide and abduction.
He said the offences were punishable under Sections 221 and 274 of the Penal Code.
The prosecutor said that the defendant, at about 4am, went to the maternity ward of Aisha Muhammadu-Buhari General Hospital, Jega, and took away a new-born baby boy.
He said that the baby was delivered by one Fatima Ja’afaru of Galbi village in Jega Local Government area of the state.
Mati stated that when Nebechi was intercepted by the hospital’s security guard, she abandoned the baby within the premises and ran away.
He said the lifeless body of the baby was later found within the premises of the hospital.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against her.
The Presiding Judge, Magistrate Zainab Bello-Suru, ordered that the defendant be remanded in the correctional centre at Argungu, pending further investigation by the police and advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Bello-Suru, thereafter, adjourned the case till January 5, 2021, for further mention.