Woman, 37, gets 14-year jail term in Ekiti for stealing infant

The Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, has sentenced 37-year-old Deborah Ayeni to 14 years in prison for stealing a newborn. Justice Lekan Olatawura delivered the ruling while Ayeni was not in court, after she stopped attending her trial following her release on bail. The court declared her a fugitive and instructed security agencies to arrest her. The judge ruled that her prison term would start on the day she is taken into custody. He also ordered the court registrar to send copies of the judgment and a wanted notice to the Nigeria Police, the Comptroller-General of Customs and the media. Her bail was revoked because she failed to appear for trial. Ayeni's two sureties, one of them her father, Babatope Ebenezer Ayeni, were ordered to serve six months in prison and pay the prescribed recognisance fees for failing to produce her in court. Ayeni was arraigned on September 1, 2025, and pleaded not guilty to a single count of child stealing. Prosecution counsel Ibironke Odetola told the court that Ayeni took a newborn belonging to Mustapher Aliu and his wife, Falmata, in Ado-Ekiti on August 4, 2025. According to the prosecution, Ayeni had suffered a pregnancy loss but hid it from her husband, who lived abroad, and continued to act as if she were pregnant. Odetola said Ayeni invited her husband to Nigeria for the supposed delivery and placed clothing around her abdomen to maintain the appearance of pregnancy. The prosecution said she later gained access to the infant at a hospital in the Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti and took the child away. She allegedly handed the baby to a midwife, told her husband she had given birth and subsequently buried a placenta. The midwife became suspicious and alerted the police, leading to Ayeni's arrest. The prosecution called four witnesses during the trial. Police recovered the baby alive.