Herdsman jailed for 2 years – the first casualty of Fayose’s anti-grazing law

Ali Haruna, a herdsman in Ekiti state, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for taking his cows for grazing on a farmland and destroying crops.

The accused was arraigned over a two-count charge of willful and unlawful damage of farm crops at Ago Aduloju in Ado-Ekiti.

In May, Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, banned grazing in the state following the death of two farmers in Oke-Ako in Ikole local government area.

He later forwarded a bill criminalising movement of cattle from one location to another to the house of assembly.

Haruna was confirmed by the four prosecuting witnesses to have been caught midnight grazing his cow in the farm belonging to Abdulahi Yaho and Bello Mohammed.

The cash crops said to have destroyed by the cows in the farm included cassava, maize, okro and pepper, all valued at N3 million.

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

Delivering his judgement, Idowu Ayenimo, a magistrate, said the court did not believe Haruna’s defence because it was not credible.

He held that the police prosecutor, Olasunkanmi Bankole, had proved his case beyond reasonable doubt. He thereby convicted the defendant as charged without option of fine.

The magistrate ordered that the sentence should run concurrently, explaining that the term was minimal because the offence was committed before the grazing law was promulgated in the state.

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