A MAGISTRATES’ court in Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Wednesday, remanded a 45-year-old woman, Rayinat Bakare, in prison for allegedly stealing a nine-year-old girl.
The Magistrate, Mrs A B Olagbegi-Adelabu, who did not take the plea of Rakiyat, adjourned the case to May 16, while waiting for advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Earlier, the Lagos State prosecuting counsel, Mrs Olawunmi Osibanjo, told the court that Rakiyat on March 14, at about 6pm on Allynson Street in Ikorodu held the hand of a nine-year-old girl while walking on the road and the girl kept crying.
She said, “People who saw the girl crying asked her if the woman was her mother and she said, ‘No’, which brought the attention of people who started questioning the defendant.
“The mother of the girl eventually appeared and told the crowd that she had never come across the defendant in her entire life.”
The prosecutor noted that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 277 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
