A Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, has sentenced a 40-year-old man, Cletus Gandu, to nine months in prison for stealing two tubers of yam.

The court delivered its judgment on Thursday.

The convict admitted to stealing the yams because he was hungry and pleaded for leniency. “I was hungry, and I stole the yams. Please have mercy on me,” Gandu told the court.

In his ruling, Magistrate Michael Bawa sentenced Gandu to three months in prison for criminal trespass and nine months for theft.

However, he noted that the sentences would run concurrently, meaning Gandu would serve only nine months in total.

The magistrate also gave Gandu the option to pay a fine of N50,000 instead of serving the prison term.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps charged Gandu with criminal trespass and theft, offenses that go against sections 327 and 270 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law.

The NSCDC prosecutor, Marcus Audu, told the court that the complainant, Alice Daniel, reported the theft to the Corps’ office in Kafanchan on July 15.

“The convict stole the yam tubers from the complainant’s farm in Zonkwa on two different occasions,” Audu explained.

According to the prosecutor, Gandu confessed to the crime during the investigation.