Court jails Man for stealing 35 Tubers of Yams in Ondo

The Akure Division of the Magistrates’ Court in Ondo State on Wednesday sentenced a 22-year-old man, Emmanuel Godfrey, to 18 months in prison for stealing 35 tubers of yams.

Godfrey, who admitted to the crime, told the court that he stole the yams out of hunger.

According to the charge sheet, the incident occurred on August 29, 2025, at Awogbamigbe, Oba-Ile, in Akure North Local Government Area, where Godfrey allegedly uprooted the yams from a farm belonging to one Sunday Chinedu.

Prosecutor T.O. Gbadebo of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said the theft was reported to the Corps’ office on September 2.

He informed the court that the defendant had stolen the tubers on two separate occasions and had previously been pardoned by the community for a similar offence.

The charge read, “That you, Emmanuel Godfrey, on August 29, 2025, at Awogbamigbe, Oba-Ile, Akure North Local Government Area, did commit felony by entering a farm belonging to Sunday Chinedu to steal 35 tubers of yam, which you uprooted from the ground.”

Gbadebo added that the offence contravenes Sections 383(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

Magistrate Damilola Sekoni convicted Godfrey on his own plea and sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment with hard labour, without an option of fine.

The Nation