A Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Friday remanded two fishermen alleged to have stolen a two-year-old child with intent to use him for money ritual.
The defendants, Segun Olabisi, 40, and Felix Omoyi, 44, facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and child stealing, however, pleaded guilty to the charges.
Chief Magistrate K.B. Ayeye, consequently ordered that the duo should be kept at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre in Lagos, pending a review of the facts of the case and sentencing.
Ayeye adjourned the case until March 3, 2020.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, ASP. Thomas Nurudeen, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on Dec. 1, at Imosiri Village in Ibeju-Lekki, near Lagos.
According to him, the defendants, who are relatives of the two-year-old boy, stole him from his parents’ house and hid him in a forest with intent of using him for money ritual to pay-off their debts.
He said that the second defendant, Omoyi later confessed to the crime after the boy had stayed in the forest for three days without food and water.
Nurudeen told the court that the police was contacted and a search party was organised, which led to the discovery of the boy, tied up deep in the forest.
The offences, the prosecutor said, contravened Sections 411 and 277 (1) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 277 (1) stipulates 14 years jail term for the offence of child stealing while Section 411 carries two years jail term for conspiracy.
(NAN)
