3 Fulani herdsmen arrested in Ondo over death of farmer

After receiving payment for grazing on Sunday Ayeni’s land and harming his crops, three herders have been taken into custody. Sunday Ayeni was a 36-year-old farmer.

Among them are Shagari Muhammad, 45; Mohamodu Adamu Bonkolo, 50; and Abdullah Halilu Tumbi, 59.

While the victim was working on his farm at Afiri Camp via Oka-Akoko, in the state’s Akoko South-West council area, the suspects allegedly stabbed him.

The individuals have been charged with conspiracy and murder in the interim.

The defendants and other people at large committed the crime on August 10, 2024, at Afiri Camp via Oka-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area, according to police prosecutor Folashade Adeyemi, who testified in court before the Akure Chief Magistrate.

Adeyemi said that the defendants allegedly conspired with others at large to kill the farmer, Ayeni, by stabbing him with a cutlass while he was working on his farm.

The charge reads: “That you, Abdullah Halilu Tumbi, Mohamodu Adamu Bonkolo, and Shagari Muhammed, and others at large, did stab one Ayeni Sunday ‘m’ during a clash with him on his farm with a sharp cutlass on his stomach, which eventually led to his death.”

The offence, according to the prosecutor, contravened Sections 316, 319, and 324 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State, 2006.

She urged the court to remand the defendants at any correctional centre in the state pending advice from the office of the DPP.

The trail Magistrate, A. Akinboboye, did not take the pleas of the defendants but ordered their remand at the Olokuta Correctional Centre in Akure pending the advice of the state Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Akinboboye ordered that the case file be duplicated and sent to the office of the DPP, and adjourned the case until December for mention.