A Chief Magistrates Court in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 39-year-old woman, Mercy Momoh, to three-year imprisonment, for stealing a month-old baby.
In his judgment, the Chief Magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye, while convicting Momoh said that the Police have been able to proof their case beyond reasonable doubt.
In the course of trial, the police prosecutor, Sergeant Samson Osobu, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on September 20 at Ekiti State Government Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti.
Osobu said, “She stole a month-old baby belonging to one Funmilayo Dada.
The prosecutor, while presenting the fact of the case before the court, said Momoh confessed to the crime.
He said, “Momoh saw the nursing mother with her baby and deceived her that the Ekiti State Empowerment Programme was disbursing money to less-privileged people at the State Secretariat.
“The nursing mother followed Momoh to the place. On getting there, Momoh told the nursing mother to help her to 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 came back, 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,” the prosecutor said.
Momoh pleaded guilty to the charge.
