Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Stealing Yams in Ondo
A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Akure, Ondo State, has sentenced 22-year-old Emmanuel Godfrey to 18 months imprisonment for stealing 35 tubers of yam.
Godfrey confessed to the crime, explaining 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 the defendant was accused of uprooting the tubers from a farm owned by one Sunday Chinedu.
With no legal representation, Godfrey pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of theft brought against him by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The charge read in part: “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.
NSCDC prosecutor, T.O. Gbadebo informed the court that the offence contravenes Sections 383(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code Cap 37, Vol 1, Law of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.
Gbadebo explained that Chinedu reported the theft to the NSCDC office in Akure on September 2, noting that the defendant had stolen the yams on two separate occasions.
He urged the court to convict the defendant according to his plea, saying the defendant had been earlier pardoned by the community for committing a similar offence.
