Sunday Jackson, a farmer from Adamawa State who was sentenced to death for killing a herder in 2021, has been granted a pardon by the state government.
The pardon was announced on Tuesday by Humwashi Wonosikou, the Chief Press Secretary to Adamawa State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
The decision was also confirmed by Funke Adeoye, founder of the non-profit organisation Hope Behind Bars.
According to the statement, “Adamawa State Governor, Rt. Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri CON, has granted pardon to Sunday Jackson, who was sentenced to death…. Jackson, who is in Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, has been pardoned…The pardon is in commemoration of Christmas and New Year celebrations.”
The Sunday Jackson case
Jackson’s case dates back to 2015 when he was working on his farm in Dong Community, Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State. During the incident, a herder, Buba Bawuro, reportedly brought his cattle onto Jackson’s farm, where they began destroying his crops.
A confrontation ensued, during which Bawuro allegedly attacked Jackson with a knife.
Although Jackson sustained injuries, he managed to disarm the herder and stabbed him in return. Bawuro later died from the wounds. Jackson maintained that he acted in self-defence.
However, in 2021, the Yola High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death, ruling that he could have fled after disarming his attacker. The judgment was delivered by Justice Fatima Ahmed Tafida under Section 211 of the Penal Code.
In March, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence, drawing widespread criticism from human rights advocates and legal experts.
Until his pardon, Jackson had been held at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja.
U.S. presses release of Sunday Jackson
Mr Jackson’s pardon comes amid intense pressure from the U.S. government demanding his release.
In November, amid the U.S. designation of Nigeria as a
Country of Particular Concern over the alleged killing of Christians and President Donald Trump’s threats to invade Nigeria to eliminate terrorists attacking Christians, United States federal lawmaker Riley Moore called for the release of Mr Jackson, who was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to death by hanging for killing an armed herdsman who violently attacked him on his farmland.
Mr Moore, who spoke in an interview on Fox News, stated, “But there’s a lot of things they can do, and one of the first steps is releasing Sunday Jackson, and another one is working with us to disarm these militants in the middle-belt of the country—the Fulani Islamic radicals that are there.”