“I Needed the Baby”, Woman Who Stole Newborn Baby In Ekiti Confessed

“I Needed the Baby”, Woman Who Stole Newborn Baby In Ekiti Confessed

The Ekiti State Police Command has successfully recovered a one-day-old baby boy who was reportedly stolen from the Oke-Iyimi Health Centre in Ado-Ekiti on Monday.

This was disclosed by the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Aribo, during a press briefing on Wednesday. Aribo explained that the Command acted swiftly after receiving a distress call about the missing infant. Investigators found a cotton wool and receipt left behind by the suspect at the hospital, which led them to a popular supermarket where she was eventually apprehended through CCTV footage.

The suspect, Deborah Ayeni, 34, confessed to stealing the baby in a desperate attempt to avoid being abandoned by her fiancé after suffering a miscarriage in March 2025.

“I stole the baby because I needed it,” Ayeni admitted. “When I got to the hospital, I met them there, we were joking with the baby and I left with it after a while.”

She further explained, “I was pregnant last year before my husband travelled to UK but I had miscarriage in March this year but I didn’t tell my husband that I lost the pregnancy. I’m not legally married yet but I did my introduction last year. I was thinking if I tell my husband that I lost my pregnancy, maybe he would leave me. This is my first time of stealing a baby.”

Ayeni also revealed how she faked her pregnancy: “I was not on admission when I went there, I pretended to have pregnancy by packing clothes in my stomach.”

Describing how she gained the trust of the baby’s parents, Ayeni said, “I was playing with the mother on Sunday morning, we started playing because I understood Hausa language. Her husband told me to help him stay with the kid while he went out to get something. I stole the baby around 4am and I saw a bike ten minutes thereafter.”

The baby’s father, Mustapha Aliyu, 29, expressed shock at the incident, saying he never suspected Ayeni, who had appeared friendly on the day his wife gave birth.

“She was very jovial with me,” Aliyu said. “Though I didn’t know her, she claimed she came to the hospital for delivery. She even left the health centre at one point to visit another hospital on Sunday, which makes me think she was scouting before carrying out the operation.”

The Commissioner of Police confirmed that the baby has been safely returned to his parents, while the suspect remains in custody pending further investigation.

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