By Onilede Titi Faith
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has condemned the three-year prison sentence handed to a 28-year-old auto mechanic, Akeem Jimoh, for stealing yam worth ₦35,000 in Osun State.
Jimoh was convicted on Wednesday by an Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court after pleading guilty to stealing 17 tubers of yam.
He told the court he acted out of hunger and pleaded for mercy, but Magistrate Muibah Olatunji sentenced him to three years in prison with hard labour, without an option of fine.
Reacting, Falana described the ruling as “inhumane” and called for an urgent review of Nigeria’s sentencing policy.
He questioned the rationale behind spending scarce public funds on feeding, housing, and providing medical care for convicts jailed over petty offences.
“It is high time the sentencing policy of the country was made humane,” Falana said. “Why should the government waste scarce resources on imprisoning someone for stealing tubers of yam worth ₦35,000? In some countries, it is no longer treated as a crime when the poor steal food to survive.”
The Senior Advocate further disclosed that he had instructed a lawyer to appeal both the conviction and the sentence, stressing that justice must be tempered with compassion.
