By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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A female convict at the Federal Correctional Centre, located along Afao Road, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment, has regained her freedom alongside her day old baby delivered at the facility.
In a landmark judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal sitting in Ado at the weekend, the court set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti, which earlier convicted the woman to four years imprisonment for the offence of stealing.
The Hope Metro gathered the appellant was pregnant at the time the High Court verdict was delivered. She later delivered a baby in the Correctional Centre facility.
In the judgment delivered on August 31, 2023, the Court set aside the verdict of the Federal High Court on the grounds that the lower 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 is clothed with the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the case, hence it was left with no option than to discharge the woman from the Correctional Centre.
The Judgment reads in part, “Upon reading the record of appeal herein, it is hereby ordered as follows:
“That the appeal hereby succeeds and it is allowed. That the judgment of the lower court is hereby set aside on the allegation of stealing in Count 2. That the Appellant is hereby discharged and acquitted on that count, and it is ordered that she be released forthwith.”
Reacting, the First Lady of Ekiti State, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, who was moved by the woman’s plight, has taken steps to ensure that the welfare of the newborn and the mother are prioritized.
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.
