An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has declared a 37-year-old woman, Deborah Ayeni, wanted after sentencing her to 14 years imprisonment for stealing a newborn baby.Justice Lekan Olata sentenced Ayeni in absentia after she failed to return to court to face trial, despite being granted bail.

The court subsequently directed its registrar to forward the judgment and a letter declaring Ayeni a fugitive to the Comptroller-General of Customs, the Nigeria Police and the media to facilitate her arrest.

Justice Olatawura ordered that the 14-year sentence would take effect immediately upon her arrest.

The judge also sentenced Ayeni’s father, Babatope Ebenezer Ayeni, and the other surety to six months imprisonment for failing to produce the convict in court and for not paying the required recognisance fees.

The court had earlier revoked Ayeni’s bail after she repeatedly failed to appear for proceedings.

The prosecution, led by Ibironke Odetola, told the court that Ayeni stole the newborn on August 4, 2025, in Ado-Ekiti, with the intention of depriving the child’s parents, Mustapher Aliu and his wife, Falmata, of their baby.

She allegedly wrapped clothes around her stomach to create the impression of pregnancy and invited her husband to return to Nigeria for the delivery.

The prosecutor said Ayeni later went to a hospital in the Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti, where she allegedly stole the newborn.The police subsequently arrested Ayeni, while the stolen baby was rescued alive.

Ayeni was first arraigned on September 1, 2025, on a one-count charge of child stealing, to which she pleaded not guilty.The prosecution called four witnesses during the trial.

However, during the proceedings, Ayeni allegedly told her counsel, Stephen Ademuagun, that she had been kidnapped while travelling on the road and thereafter stopped appearing in court.

The prosecution later informed the court that Ayeni’s father, who was one of her sureties, appeared before the judge on one occasion and reportedly said his daughter was at home when questioned about her whereabouts.

The court found Ayeni guilty of the offence, which contravenes Section 292 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.