Femi Falana has condemned the three-year jail term handed to an Osun mechanic for stealing yam, calling it inhumane and vowing to appeal.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has condemned the three-year imprisonment of a 28-year-old auto mechanic, Akeem Jimoh, convicted for stealing yam worth N35,000 in Osun State.
Jimoh was sentenced on Wednesday by an Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court after pleading guilty to stealing 17 tubers of yam. He had told the court he committed the act out of hunger and pleaded for leniency, but Magistrate Muibah Olatunji ordered three years in prison with hard labour, without an option of fine.
In a statement to Saturday PUNCH, Falana described the judgment as harsh and urged a review of Nigeria’s sentencing policy. “Why should the government be made to waste scarce public funds on the feeding, accommodation, and medical care for the convict who was jailed for stealing tubers of yam worth N35,000?” he asked.
Falana added that his team had filed an appeal against the conviction and sentencing.