Ekiti woman bags 14yrs jail term for stealing newborn
An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced 37-year-old Deborah Ayeni to 14 years in prison for stealing a newborn baby.
Justice Lekan Olatawura, who sentenced Ayeni in absentia, also declared her a fugitive and ordered her arrest wherever she is found, with the sentence to commence immediately upon her apprehension.
Olatawura handed down the sentence on Tuesday after Ayeni’s sureties failed to produce her in court, following the presentation of four witnesses by the prosecution during the trial.
Prosecuting counsel, Ibironke Odetola, told the court that Ayeni stole and unlawfully took away the newborn belonging to Mustapher Aliu and his wife, Falmata, on August 4, 2025, in Ado-Ekiti, with the intention of depriving the couple of their child.
Odetola said Ayeni was arrested and detained at the Correctional Centre in Ado-Ekiti before she was granted bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties, each required to provide recognisance of the same amount.
According to the prosecutor, Ayeni was present when the prosecution was presenting its third witness but later told her counsel, Stephen Ademuagun, that she had been kidnapped while travelling on the road and subsequently stopped appearing in court.
She said Ayeni’s father, Babatope Ayeni, who was one of the sureties, appeared in court on one occasion and told the judge that his daughter was at home when he was questioned about her whereabouts.
Justice Olatawura had earlier revoked Ayeni’s bail following her failure to appear in court to answer the charge against her, before the trial continued in her absence.
The court also sentenced the two sureties, including Ayeni’s father, to six months’ imprisonment for failing to produce the convict and pay the required recognisance surety fees, in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Ekiti State, 2014, as amended.
Odetola further told the court that Ayeni had claimed to have lost a pregnancy around May 2025 and allegedly decided to conceal the loss in an attempt to save her marriage by telling her husband, who is based abroad, that she was pregnant and about to give birth.
The prosecutor said Ayeni subsequently stole the newborn to sustain the false claim she had made to her husband.
She confirmed that the child was later rescued alive by the police.
Olatawura also ordered the court registrar to forward the judgment and a letter to the Controller-General of Customs, the Nigeria Police Force and the media, declaring Ayeni a fugitive and seeking her apprehension.
Ayeni was convicted of an offence contrary to Section 292 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.