By Adeboye Ado
A 25-year old man, Kolawole Ojo, has been sentenced to four years imprisonment for unlawfully harvesting and stealing cocoa beans belonging to a farmer identified as Afo Bobade.
The police arraigned the defendant before Chief Magistrate B.A. Ikusika, on a one-count charge.
According to the prosecution, the defendant committed the crime on September 12, 2025, at Igbodoko farmland, Iwaro Oka- Akoko, in the Oka- Akoko Magisterial District.
The prosecutor, Inspector Kehinde Emmanuel, explained that the defendant stole the cocoa from the farmland of Bobade.
He said the offences contravened Section 383 (1) and are punishable under Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.
The defendant, who had no counsel, pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
In his ruling, Magistrate B.A. Ikusika sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment at the Owo Correctional Centre.