An Akure Magistrate Court has sentenced a herder, Dab Bello, to 10 years in prison for violating Ondo State’s anti-open grazing law and destroying farmland, The Nation reports.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Damilola Sekoni, gave Bello an option to pay N20 million in compensation to the complainant in lieu of the jail term.
Bello was arrested for allowing his cattle to graze on farmland owned by the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) in Owo Local Government Area in 2023, resulting in the destruction of young palm trees and watermelons worth N50 million.
He faced five charges: conspiracy, unlawful grazing, malicious damage, breach of peace, and illegal entry. He was found guilty on all counts.
Prosecution counsel, P.O. Nwafor, told the court that Bello grazed his cattle without a permit and on land not approved for grazing, in violation of the Ondo State Livestock Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law, 2021.
The court also heard that the herders returned the following day and set the farm on fire.
In her judgment, Magistrate Sekoni sentenced Bello to four years in prison on the first count without an option of a fine, two years with a N50,000 fine option on the second count, and one year each on the third and fourth counts. He was handed two years without a fine option on the fifth count.
The sentences are to run concurrently, but Sekoni added that Bello would be discharged if he paid N20 million compensation.
