Gov. Fintiri grants pardon to Jackson farmer sentenced to death for killing herdsman in self defence

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has granted Sunday Jackson, the farmer jailed for killing a Fulani herder who attacked him on his farm, a pardon.

A statement by Humwashi Wonosikou, chief press secretary to Adamawa governor, announced Jackson’s pardon on Tuesday.

“Adamawa State Governor, Rt. Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri CON, has granted pardon to Sunday Jackson who was sentenced to death,” the statement reads. “The pardon is in commemoration of Christmas and New Year celebrations.”

It added, “Jackson who is in Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, has been pardoned alongside Joseph Eugene from the Medium Security Custodial Centre Yola new and Maxwell Ibrahim serving at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kaduna.”

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 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.

Moore, speaking in an interview on Fox News, said, “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.”