An Akure Magistrate Court has ordered herder, Dab Bello, to either pay a N20 million compensation for destroying farmland or serve a 10-year jail sentence.
Bello was arrested for breaching the state’s anti-open grazing law and damaging a farm worth N50 million.
Bello faced five charges, including conspiracy, unlawful grazing, malicious damage, breach of peace, and illegal entry. The court found him guilty on all counts.
In 2023, Bello grazed his cattle on farmland owned by the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) in Owo Local Government Area.
The cattle destroyed young palm trees and watermelons cultivated on two hectares of land.
Prosecuting counsel, P.O. Nwafor, told the court that the grazing occurred without a permit and on land not designated for such use by the state government.
She said the action violated the Ondo State Livestock Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law, 2021.
The court was also informed that the herders returned to set fire to the farm the next day.
In her ruling, Presiding Magistrate Damilola Sekoni said evidence presented by the prosecution was credible and sufficient.
He sentenced Bello to four years imprisonment on count one without an option of a fine, two years on count two with an option of N50,000 fine, and one year each on count three and four.
Bello was also jailed for two years without an option on count five.
Sekoni held that the jail terms would run concurrently but said the convict would be discharged if N2 million compensation were paid to the complainant.
The Nation
