Herdsman gets 2 year jail sentence by Ekiti court for illegal grazing

A Fulani herdsman, Ali Haruna, has been sentenced to two years im­prisonment by an Ekiti State Chief Magistrate Court, Ado-Ekiti for grazing on farmlands in the state.
Haruna was accused of tak­ing his cows for grazing in farm­lands in Ado-Ekiti at midnight where crops worth N3 million were destroyed.
In his judgement, the Magis­trate, Idowu Ayenimo, said that he was lenient with the convict because the offence was commit­ted before the Ekiti Grazing Law came into existence.

Haruna, 18, was arraigned in court on January 22, 2016 on a two-count charge of wilful and unlawful damage of farm crops at Ago Aduloju in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Four prosecuting witnesses confirmed that Haruna was arrested at midnight for grazing his cows on farms belonging to Abdulahi Yaho and Bello Mo­hammed.
The cash crops destroyed by the cows, according to the prosecution included cassava, maize, okra and pepper.
In his defence, Haruna had told the court that the cows’ own­er lived in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
The magistrate, in his judge­ment, declared that the court did not believe Haruna’s defence was credible enough to let him go free.
Ayenimo said that the Police prosecutor, Mr. Olasunkanmi Bankole, had proved his case be­yond reasonable doubt and con­victed the defendant as charged without an option of fine.
The magistrate however or­dered that sentence should run concurrently, noting that the jail term was mild because the of­fence was committed before the Grazing Law was promulgated in Ekiti.
Haruna’s counsel, Mr. Chris Omokhafe, had prayed the court to be considerate in its judgement because his client was a first-time offender.