Five residents of Jigawa State have been convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment each for illegally felling trees in violation of the state’s climate change law.
The judgment was delivered on Wednesday by the Jigawa State Environmental Court sitting in Dutse.
The presiding magistrate, Hassan Yau, ruled that the defendants contravened the provisions of the Jigawa State Climate Change Law No. 19 of 2019.
The convicts, Sale Yahaya, Sani Wada, Idris Haladu, Dauda Harisu and Mutari Musa are residents of Andaza Town and Kwarin Makera Village in Dutse and Kiyawa Local Government Areas.
Magistrate Yau held that the offenders were guilty of cutting down trees without authorisation, an act he described as harmful to the environment and contrary to existing laws. He, however, gave them the option of paying a fine of N20,000 each instead of serving the one-year jail term.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of exhibits recovered from the scene and directed that the seized timber logs be disposed of after the statutory appeal period.
Reacting to the verdict, the Director of Publicity and Protocol of the Jigawa State Judiciary, Abbas Wangara, said the judgment should serve as a deterrent to those engaged in indiscriminate tree felling across the state.
According to him, the state government remains committed to combating deforestation and protecting the ecosystem for future generations. He urged residents to report environmental offences, stressing that offenders would continue to face prosecution.
Efforts to obtain comments from the convicts after the court session were unsuccessful, as they declined to speak while being escorted out by officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service.