Appeal Court Sets Aside Pregnant Woman’s Conviction

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

A female convict at the Federal Correctional Centre, Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State has been freed from the imprisonment of four years alongside her baby, who was delivered at the correctional centre.

In a landmark judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in Ado Ekiti on August 31, 2023, the court set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti, which convicted the woman to four years imprisonment for stealing.

The appellant was pregnant at the time the High Court verdict was delivered. She later delivered a baby in the correctional centre.

The First Lady of Ekiti State, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, who was moved by the woman’s plight, took steps to ensure that the welfare of the newborn and the mother are prioritised. She also instructed her Gender Unit to ensure proper legal representation for the woman on appeal against the judgment of the High Court that convicted her.

In the judgment, the Court of Appeal set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court on the grounds that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to try the offence of stealing by virtue of Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

The Appeal Court held that it is only the State High Court that has the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the case; hence it was left with no other option than to discharge the woman from the correctional centre.

The judgment read in part: “Upon reading the record of appeal herein…It is hereby ordered as follows: ‘That the appeal hereby succeeds and it is allowed and that the judgment of the lower court is hereby set aside on the allegation of stealing in count two. That the appellant is hereby discharged and acquitted on that count, and it is ordered that she be released forthwith.”