An Ekiti State High Court has sentenced a 37-year-old woman, Deborah Ayeni, to 14 years in prison in absentia for stealing a newborn baby to cover up a secret miscarriage.
Justice Lekan Olatawura handed down the sentence in Ado-Ekiti after Ayeni jumped bail and refused to appear for her trial. With the convict currently on the run, the court officially declared her a wanted fugitive.
Ayeni’s father, Babatope Ebenezer Ayeni, and a second surety were both sentenced to six months in prison for failing to produce the suspect in court when demanded.
During the trial, state prosecutor Ibironke Odetola told the court that Ayeni lost her pregnancy around May 2025. Desperate to save her marriage, she concealed the miscarriage and deceived her foreign-based husband into believing she was still expecting a child.
“She invited her husband to come back to Nigeria for her delivery and deceived him with clothes wrapped around her stomach to feign the existence of a pregnancy,” the prosecutor told the court.
On August 4, 2025, Ayeni visited a hospital in the Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti, where she stole a newborn belonging to Mustapher and Falmata Aliu. She then handed the stolen baby over to a local midwife for care, lying to her husband that the placenta had already been buried.
Police arrested Ayeni and rescued the newborn unharmed after an attentive midwife noticed discrepancies in her medical claims and raised the alarm.
While Ayeni’s lawyer tried to argue that she missed court because she was kidnapped along the road, her own father contradicted this claim, previously admitting to the judge that she was at home.
The court has directed the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Customs Service, and media outlets to assist in tracking down the fleeing convict. Her 14-year prison sentence will take effect immediately upon her arrest.
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