A magistrate court in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, condemned a herdsman to ten years in jail for damaging N50 million worth of farm produce.
Dan-Bello, the herder, was charged with conspiracy, unlawful grazing, intentional damage, breach of peace, and illegal entrance. He was also charged with breaking the state’s anti-open-grazing statute.
On October 27, 2023, Dan-Bello reportedly let his cattle graze on property owned by the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN), located on Ago Panu–Ute Road in the Owo Local Government Area.
P.O. Nwafor, the prosecution attorney, said that the herder damaged watermelons and young palm trees grown on two hectares of farmland by allowing his cattle to run amok.
Nwafor further informed the court that Dan-Bello had severely violated the Ondo State Livestock Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law, 2021, by grazing his herd of cattle on the property without a state government authorisation.
The prosecution also revealed that the situation took a turn for the worse when one of the herders came the next day with six other people and reportedly set the property on fire, destroying a motorbike in the process.
One of the prosecution’s witnesses, a farm guard, told the court during the trial how the second herdsman ran away after capturing Dan-Bello.
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Dan-Bello was sentenced to four years in prison on the first count without the possibility of a fine, two years on the second count with the possibility of a N50,000 fine, and one year on the third and fourth counts after Magistrate Damilola Sekoni ruled during the judgement that the prosecution’s evidence was sufficient and credible.
The magistrate ordered the terms to run consecutively, and the defendant was additionally sentenced to two years without the possibility of a fine on the fifth count.
However, the court ruled that the convict would be discharged if he paid a compensation of N2 million to the complainant.
