Court sentences woman to 3 years imprisonment for stealing baby in Ekiti

A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Monday, sentenced a 39-year-old woman, Mrs Mercy Momoh, to three years imprisonment for stealing a baby.

The convict, whose address was not provided, pleaded guilty to the crime.

The police prosecutor, Sergeant Samson Osobu, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on September 20 at the State Government Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti.

Osobu said the convict stole a month baby belonging to one Funmilayo Dada.

He said the offence contravened section 371 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

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The prosecutor furnished the court with the fact of the case, saying the convict confessed to the crime.

He told the court that the convict saw the woman with her baby and told her that the Ekiti State Empowerment Programme at the State Secretariat is disbursing money to the less privileged people.

According to him, the woman followed the convict to the place, getting there, the convict told the woman to help her buy a recharge card, while she asked her to drop her baby and her phone.

Osobu added that when the woman came back, she did not see the convict and her baby.

The prosecutor said, the woman reported the matter at the police station and through information, the convict was apprehended by the police and the baby was given back to the mother.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye, sentenced the convict but with N100,000 option of fine.