Adamawa farmer, Sunday Jackson, breathed the sweet air of freedom again as he had the odour of near-death taken away from him following a state pardon granted him by Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, on Tuesday.
The governor undertook the action in accordance with Chapter 6, Part 2, Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Jackson, a Christian, was controversially sentenced to death after killing a herder, described as Fulani, while defending himself during an attack on his farm in the North-East State.
The event occurred during the administration of the now-late President Muhammadu Buhari.
The farmer has been in the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, for about five years now, awaiting the hangman’s noose at any moment.
Jackson, whose case had sparked outrage among United States (US) lawmakers during the present administration of President Donald Trump, Nigerian human rights activists and farming communities, was convicted after a violent confrontation in which he was reportedly attacked by a herder on his farmland.
Despite claims of clear self-defence, Jackson was handed a death sentence, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, and later transferred to the Kuje Custodial Centre.
For years, his case stood as a chilling symbol of what critics described as the criminalisation of farmers who fall victim to attacks while protecting their lives and livelihoods.
Exercising his constitutional prerogative of mercy, Gov. Fintiri granted Jackson full pardon as part of Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, effectively ending what many had described as a grave miscarriage of justice.
Once news of the governor’s action hit the public domain, rural farmers who saw Jackson’s conviction as a warning that self-defence could cost them their lives, reportedly celebrated the verdict.
The governor said the pardon followed recommendations from the State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy and was informed by Jackson’s conduct while in custody.
Governor Fintiri said Jackson and two other inmates equally granted clemency had demonstrated significant improvement in their behaviour and conduct.
“Therefore, in the exercise of my prerogative of mercy as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in line with the recommendations of the Adamawa State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, I have granted pardon to three persons and directed the remission of the reminder of the sentences of five others who have served various jail terms and have significantly demonstrated good conduct over the years,” he said.
Though the government statement avoided revisiting the facts of the case, rights advocates insist the pardon amounts to a quiet acknowledgment that Jackson should never have been sentenced to death in the first place.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Jackson (left) and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
