Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri on Tuesday granted a Christmas pardon to Sunday Jackson, the farmer who was controversially sentenced to death after killing a herder while defending himself during an attack on his farm.
Jackson, whose case had sparked outrage among human rights activists and farming communities, was convicted after a violent confrontation in which he was reportedly attacked by a herder on his farmland.
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Despite claims of clear self-defence, Jackson was handed a death sentence and later transferred to the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja.
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.
Governor Fintiri, exercising his constitutional prerogative of mercy, granted Jackson a full pardon as part of Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, effectively ending what many had described as a grave miscarriage of justice.
The decision immediately sparked relief and celebration across Adamawa, particularly among rural farmers who saw Jackson’s conviction as a warning that self-defence could cost them their lives.
The governor said the pardon followed recommendations from the Adamawa State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy and was informed by Jackson’s conduct while in custody.
Governor Fintiri said the inmates 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.
Alongside Jackson, two other inmates were also pardoned, while five others had their sentences fully remitted. But it was Jackson’s freedom that dominated conversations across the state.