Residents of Ifa Ikot Okpon community in Uyo local government area of Akwa Ibom State have reacted angrily to news of an 18-year-old girl who gave birth to a baby and buried the child alive in a shallow grave in her compound.
Bright Okon Ekpenyong, according to residents, lives with her parents and other tenants in the compound where she buried her baby soon after delivery.
Our correspondent gathered at the weekend that she had feigned ignorance of the pregnancy, adding that she was still seeing her monthly menstrual flow until January, before delivering the baby on Thursday.
Upon interrogation by youths, she said; “I suddenly started feeling pains around my lower abdomen in the early hours, and I rushed out to where we usually dump wastes in the compound, then saw a baby coming out of my body. My body was paining me seriously. All of a sudden, I fell down there at the backyard, I saw a baby coming out of my body and started crying.
“After the baby came out, I discovered that she was dead because the crying stopped, and I was unconscious. Later, after regaining consciousness, I dug a small place to keep the baby until my mother returns, so I could show her.
I was in shock when I gave birth since there was no one to tell me what to do.”
Asked who was responsible for the pregnancy, Bright named one Ezekiel, a man said to be her friend in the community.
Her father, Mr. Okon Ekpenyong, who denied knowledge of the said Ezekiel, said he had planned to take her to the midwife to ascertain her condition after suspecting her of being pregnant, but she escaped from home a few days ago and returned to deliver the child.
Ekpenyong, a labourer who said he had left home for his daily job, explained that he was immediately alerted by neighbors about the incident, for him to return.
Begging the youths not to report the matter to the police, Ekpenyong lamented that he had previously lost one of his four children, and pleaded with them to save his daughter from prosecution.
