Court jails herdsman for offence committed before grazing law in Ekiti

Ali Haruna, 18, has bagged a two-year jail term from a Chief Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti for grazing his cattle on a farm in Ago Aduloju, destroying cassava, maize, okro, and pepper worth N3 million 0n January 22.

The court gave the herdsman no option of fine.

The judgement is in line with the anti-grazing law the state recently made following attacks by Fulani herdsmen on farmers.

But the jail term, Magistrate Idowu Ayenimo said, is minimal, and will run concurrently because the offence was committed before the grazing law was made in the state.

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The four prosecution witnesses said that the convict was caught in the midnight grazing his cows in the farm belonging to Abdullahi Yaho and Bello Mohammed.

In his defence, the defendant had told the court that the owner of the cows lived in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The magistrate said that the court did not believe Haruna’s defence as it was not credible.

He held that the Police prosecutor, Mr. Olasunkanmi Bankole, had proved his case beyond every reasonable doubt.

The defence counsel, Mr Chris Omokhafe, had prayed the court to be liberal in the dispensation of justice, saying that he was a first offender.