An Ondo State Magistrate Court sitting in Akure has sentenced a Fulani herdsman to ten years in prison for violating the state’s anti-open grazing law and causing extensive damage to a farmland valued at N50 million.
According to court proceedings, the defendant was arraigned on a five-count charge, including conspiracy, unlawful grazing, malicious damage, breach of public peace, and illegal entry. The prosecution revealed that the herdsman allowed his cattle to graze freely on private farmland without a permit, in direct violation of the Ondo State Livestock Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law of 2021.
Prosecuting counsel, Dan-Bello, told the court that the damage went beyond grazing. Following the initial incident, a second confrontation occurred when the herder, along with six accomplices, allegedly returned to the farm the next day and set it ablaze, destroying a motorcycle and further damaging the land.
The herdsman was arrested on October 27, 2033, and taken into custody.
Presiding over the case, Magistrate Damilola Sekoni found the defendant guilty on all five counts. The court sentenced him to:
– Four years imprisonment on the first count (conspiracy) without an option of a fine
– Two years on the second count (unlawful grazing) with an option of a N50,000 fine
– One year each on the third and fourth counts (malicious damage and breach of peace)
– Two years on the fifth count (illegal entry) without the option of a fine
In total, the cumulative sentence amounts to ten years.
In addition, the court ordered the convict to pay N2 million in compensation to the complainant.
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