Adamawa governor pardons farmer sentenced to death for killing herder

Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri on Tuesday granted a full pardon to Sunday Jackson, a farmer who was sentenced to death in 2019 for killing a herder during a confrontation on his farmland.

The pardon was announced in a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, as part of the state’s Christmas and New Year clemency programme.

Mr Jackson was convicted following a violent encounter on his farm, during which he killed a herder who allegedly attacked him.

Civil society organisations, lawyers and community leaders had argued that the incident amounted to self-defence.

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Despite those arguments, the trial court sentenced Mr Jackson to death in 2019 in a ruling that many saw as controversial, with critics arguing that it criminalises the actions of farmers who protect themselves and their farms from migrating herders and their cattle.

After his conviction, Mr Jackson was transferred from Adamawa to the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja, where he spent several years on death row.

Governor Fintiri said the decision followed recommendations from the Adamawa State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy, based on assessments of inmates’ conduct while in custody.

“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 the Prerogative of Mercy, I have granted pardon to three persons and directed the remission of the remainder of the sentences of five others,” the governor said.

He added that the beneficiaries had demonstrated good behaviour during their incarceration.

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Alongside Mr Jackson, the governor granted full pardons to Joseph Eugene, who was serving his term at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Yola (New), and Maxwell Ibrahim, who is serving his sentence at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kaduna.

The governor also approved the full remission of the remaining jail terms of five inmates: Joshua James, Adamu Ibrahim, Mohammed Abubakar, Ibrahim Usman and Saidu Abubakar, serving sentences at the Medium Security Custodial Centres in Numan and Jada.