For stealing a one-month-old baby in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, a-39-year-old woman, Mercy Momoh, was on Monday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Momoh was tried and convicted by an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court on a count of stealing a baby.

The police prosecutor, Sergeant Samson Osobu, told the court that the convict committed the offence on September 20, 2019, at the Ekiti State Government Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti.

“She stole a month-old baby belonging to Funmilayo Dada. The offence contravenes Section 371 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012,” Osobu said.

The prosecutor, while presenting the fact of the case before the court, said Momoh confessed to the crime.

He stated, “Momoh saw the nursing mother with her baby and deceived her that the Ekiti State Empowerment Programme was disbursing money to underprivileged people at the state secretariat.

“The nursing mother followed Momoh to the place. On getting there, Momoh told the nursing mother to help her buy a recharge card. She asked Dada to leave her baby and phone in her care, while she quickly went on the errand. But when the nursing mother returned, she did not see Momoh and the baby.

“The embattled and embittered nursing mother reported the matter at the police station and through information, the woman was apprehended by the police and the baby was given back to the mother.”

Momoh pleaded guilty to the charge.

In his judgment, the Chief Magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye, sentenced Momoh to a three-year jail term.

The chief magistrate, however, gave her the option of N100,000 fine.

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