A Magistrate Court in Akure has sentenced the Ajagun Ode of Ode in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Sunday Boboye, to 10 years in prison.
The court jailed the traditional ruler after finding him guilty of illegally destroying food crops and palm trees in his community.
Magistrate Bukola Ojo found Boboye guilty of the six counts of felony with malicious damage.
The incident was said to have happened on September 20, 2022, at around 3 p.m.
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Ajiboye Babatunde, told the court that on the said date, at the “Pastorate and Laity of the Apostolic Church Nigeria, along Ado Ekiti Road Igoba, Akure North, the pastor and others at large conspired to commit Felony to wit: Malicious damage.”
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It was learnt that the defendant illegally destroyed the Pastorate and Laity of the church’s perimeter fence, worth about N1 million, as well as palm trees and food crops, worth about N5 million.
After he was apprehended, the convict failed to provide a satisfactory explanation to the police after being apprehended, the prosecutor stated.
Babatunde said that the offence violates sections 516, 451, 249(d), and 81 of the Criminal Code Cap. 7 vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 2006.
In order to serve as a deterrent to those who might engage in a similar behaviour, the prosecutor requested that the court punish him appropriately and called four witnesses to testify in court.
The court awarded the sum of N5 million naira as compensation to the complainant for the damage of the perimeter fence, palm trees and other crops.
Magistrate Ojo, however, ruled that if the convict could afford to pay the compensation, the imprisonment should be vacated.
Pending the time he will pay for the damaged, the court has ordered the traditional ruler to remain in the prison custody.