Village chief borrows for a chieftancy stool and is imprisoned for debt

For criminal breach of trust, intimidation, and mischief, an Adamawa Magistrates’ Court sentenced Gumni Ilihu, the leader of Gugu village in the Banjiram District of the state’s Guyuk Local Government Area, to eight years in jail.

Roel Sunaka, a 47-year-old primary school teacher, had brought Ilihu before the court because he had refused to pay for the 13 sheep he had sold to the chief.

After Ilihu used the revenues of his cattle to gain a chieftaincy stool, according to Sunaka, the zonal supervisor at Bobini Primary School in the Guyuk Local Education Authority, he refused to pay him and instead threatened to expel him from the neighborhood.

Magistrate Hyellamada Hyellandendu’s decision in the case found the defendant guilty of criminal breach of trust.

“You Chief Gumni Ilihu, is to be sentenced to five years in prison with an option of a N100,000 fine for criminal breach of trust, one year in prison for criminal intimidation with an option of a N25,000 fine, and two years in prison for mischief with an option of a N50,000 fine,” Hyellandendu added.

The judge ruled that the prison sentences will be served concurrently.

Sunaka explained the situation to reporters, saying, “I sought the court because Gumni (Ilihu) sold 13 of my goats in 2013 and used the money to obtain a position as village leader, a chieftaincy stool known as the Sarki Gugu. All of my requests for him to pay back the money were met with silence.

After he was elected village chief, he threatened to drive me out of the community on multiple times if I persisted in bothering him about being paid back for the animals I had given him.

Miniechat

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