An Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced 37-year-old Deborah Ayeni to 14 years in prison for stealing a newborn baby.
Ayeni, however, was not present in court when Justice Lekan Olatawura delivered the judgment, having failed to appear for trial after she was granted bail. The court consequently declared her a fugitive and ordered security agencies to facilitate her arrest.
Justice Olatawura directed the court registrar to send copies of the judgment and a letter declaring Ayeni wanted to the Nigeria Police, the Comptroller-General of Customs and the media.
The judge ruled that the 14-year sentence would begin from the date Ayeni is arrested.
The court also ordered Ayeni’s two sureties, including her father, Babatope Ebenezer Ayeni, to serve six months in prison for failing to produce her in court and to pay the prescribed recognisance fees.
The sanctions followed the revocation of Ayeni’s bail after she failed to appear before the court to face the charge against her.
Ayeni was initially arraigned on September 1, 2025, and pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of child stealing.
During the trial, prosecution counsel, Ibironke Odetola, told the court that Ayeni allegedly took a newborn baby belonging to Mustapher Aliu and his wife, Falmata, in Ado-Ekiti on August 4, 2025.
The prosecution said Ayeni had earlier lost a pregnancy but allegedly concealed the loss from her husband, who lives abroad, by pretending that she was still pregnant.
According to Odetola, Ayeni later invited her husband to Nigeria for the supposed delivery and used clothing around her abdomen to create the appearance of pregnancy.
The prosecutor said Ayeni later obtained access to the newborn at a hospital in the Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti and took the child away.
She allegedly handed the baby to a midwife, telling her husband that she had given birth, and subsequently buried the placenta.
The midwife reportedly became suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the baby and alerted the police, leading to Ayeni’s arrest.
The prosecution called four witnesses during the proceedings, while the stolen child was eventually recovered alive by the police.