A day-old baby boy who was stolen from the Oke-Iyimi Health Centre in Ado-Ekiti on Monday has been found and reunited with his parents, following a swift operation by the Ekiti State Police Command.
The development was confirmed on Wednesday by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Aribo, while addressing journalists at the Command Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti.
According to CP Aribo, the Command received a distress call about the missing newborn on Monday and immediately swung into action. Investigations led to the discovery of a piece of cotton wool and a receipt left behind by the suspect at the health centre. These clues enabled officers to track her to a popular supermarket in Ado-Ekiti, where she was eventually identified and arrested through closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
The suspect, identified as Deborah Ayeni, 34, reportedly confessed to abducting the child to deceive her fiancé after suffering a miscarriage in March 2025. She claimed that fear of being abandoned led her to fake a pregnancy and steal a baby to cover up her loss.
“I stole the baby because I needed it,” she confessed during interrogation. “I lost my pregnancy in March but couldn’t tell my fiancé, who had travelled to the UK after our introduction in 2024. I was scared he would leave me, so I used clothes to pad my belly to look pregnant.”
Ayeni, who was not a patient at the hospital, narrated how she befriended the baby’s parents and gained their trust by speaking Hausa with them.
“We were playing with the baby on Sunday morning. Her husband even asked me to help watch over the baby while he stepped out. Around 4 a.m., I took the baby and left the premises. I found a commercial motorcycle a few minutes later and fled.”
The baby’s father, Mr. Mustapha Aliyu, 29, expressed shock over the incident, describing the suspect as friendly and unsuspecting.
“I didn’t know her personally, but she claimed she came for delivery too. She was friendly and even joked with us on Sunday. I never imagined she had such intentions. She left the centre briefly to visit another hospital, which now seems like part of her scouting plan before the abduction.”
Commissioner Aribo disclosed that the baby has since been returned safely to the family and is in good health. He stated that the suspect remains in police custody and would be charged to court after investigations are concluded.
He commended the swift response of his men and reiterated the Command’s commitment to protecting residents of the state, while urging members of the public, particularly health workers and caregivers, to be more vigilant and report suspicious individuals in healthcare environments.
