Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has faulted the sentencing of a 28-year-old auto mechanic, Akeem Jimoh, who was handed a three-year prison term for stealing yam worth N35,000 in Osun State.
Jimoh was on Wednesday convicted by an Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court after he admitted to stealing 17 tubers of yam.
He told the court that he took the food item out of hunger and begged for mercy.
The presiding Magistrate, Muibah Olatunji, however, sentenced him to three years imprisonment with hard labour, without an option of fine.
Reacting to the ruling, Falana said in a statement that the nation’s sentencing policy needed urgent review to reflect more humane considerations.
He said, “It is high time that the sentencing policy of the country was made humane. 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?
“The attention of judges and magistrates ought to be drawn to the fact that judicial officers in capitalist countries have stated that it is no longer a crime for the poor to steal food to feed themselves and their family members.
“Meanwhile, we have briefed a lawyer to file an appeal against the conviction and the three-year jail term of Akeem Jimoh.”