An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 37-year-old woman, Deborah Ayeni, to 14 years in prison for stealing a newborn baby.
Justice Lekan Olatawura handed down the sentence in absentia after Ayeni failed to appear in court, while her sureties were unable to produce her.
The judge subsequently ordered the court registrar to forward the judgment and a letter to the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Police Force and the media, declaring Ayeni a fugitive and directing that efforts be made to apprehend her.
The court further ordered that the 14-year sentence should take effect immediately upon her arrest.
Justice Olatawura also sentenced Ayeni’s two sureties, including her father, Babatope Ebenezer Ayeni, to six months’ imprisonment for failing to produce her in court and pay the required recognisance fees, in accordance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Ekiti State, 2014, as amended.
The judge had earlier revoked Ayeni’s bail after she repeatedly failed to appear for trial.
Ayeni was initially arraigned on September 1, 2025, on a one-count charge of child stealing, to which she pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution, led by Ibironke Odetola, told the court that Ayeni committed the offence on August 4, 2025, in Ado-Ekiti, when she unlawfully took a newborn baby belonging to Mustapher Aliu and his wife, Falmata.
According to the prosecutor, Ayeni had allegedly lost a pregnancy around May 2025 but concealed the development from her husband, who resides abroad.
Odetola said Ayeni subsequently deceived her husband into believing that she was still pregnant and persuaded him to return to Nigeria for the delivery.
She allegedly used clothes wrapped around her stomach to create the impression that she was pregnant before eventually stealing the newborn from a hospital in the Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti.
The prosecutor said Ayeni later handed the baby over to a midwife for care, claiming that she had delivered the child herself.
The midwife, however, reportedly became suspicious of inconsistencies in Ayeni’s account and alerted the police, leading to her arrest.
The stolen baby was subsequently rescued alive by the police, the prosecution said.
The offence was said to be contrary to Section 292 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
