Bauchi police have arrested a 24 years old woman, Furera Abubakar, for allegedly killing the four-day-old baby of her rival wife with Gamalin, a poisonous substance normally used to kill insects and fish.
Furera allegedly applied the liquid to the baby’s unhealed umbilical cord to end her life, according to state Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, a Superintendent of Police.
The reason for the murder has not been ascertained but it is probably caused by jealousy.
“The incident was reported to the Ningi divisional police headquarters on the 19th of August, 2023 which revealed that a four-day-old baby who was born on the 15th of August, 2023 was murdered by the suspect Furera Abubakar on the 19th of August, 2023 before the naming ceremony,” Wakil said in a statement, per Vanguard.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a co-wife of the nursing mother (victim’s mother).
The suspect entered the co-wife’s room with insecticide liquid (Gamalin) and applied it to the unhealed baby’s umbilical cord.
“The liquid which was suspected to be corrosive, affected and led to the deterioration of the baby’s health, eventually leading to his death. The investigation is discreetly ongoing, after which the suspect will be profiled and charged to court accordingly.”
In a previous case of jealousy, a 42-year-old woman, Fatima Rahman, was in May remanded at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre for her alleged murder of co-wife Adizat at her residence in Ijede, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
Fatima, a Chadian, was arraigned before Magistrate P. E Nwaka at the Yaba Magistrate’s Court on a one-count of murder.
She reportedly became angry when she learnt her husband had married a second wife and visited the pregnant woman at her residence pretending to be a nurse and stabbed her to death.
A neighbour of Adizat who saw Fatima when she arrived at the home, accused her of the murder after deep wounds were found on the deceased’s neck and head.
Charge sheet:
Police prosecutor Thomas Nurudeen alleged Fatima committed the offence on 9 April 2023 at 43 Alejo Street, Ijede Road, Ikorodu.
The charge said: “That you, Fatima Abdul Rahman, on April 9, 2023, around 12.40 pm, at 43, Alero Street, Ijede Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State in the Lagos Magisterial District did unlawfully kill one Adizat Abdul Rahman, 28-year-old, by stabbing her with a knife and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 222 and punishable under Section 233 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.”
However, Fatima’s plea was not taken and the prosecutor urged the court to remand her in a custodial centre pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
