Fintiri pardons Adamawa farmer sentenced to death for killing attacker in ‘self-defence’
Ahmad Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, has granted a pardon to Sunday Jackson, a farmer who was sentenced to death for killing a man who attacked him on his farm.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Humwashi Wonosikou, chief press secretary (CPS) to the Governor, said Jackson and two other inmates on death row were pardoned as part of activities marking the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
According to the statement, those granted pardon include Sunday Jackson, who was held at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre; Joseph Eugene of the Yola New Medium Security Custodial Centre; and Maxwell Ibrahim, an inmate of the Kaduna Medium Security Custodial Centre.
Wonosikou.
The CPS added that Fintiri also approved the full remission of the remaining jail terms of five other inmates.
They are Joshua James Audo, Adamu Ibrahim, Mohammed Abubakar, Ibrahim Usman, and Saidu Abubakar.
Jackson was sentenced to death by an Adamawa state high court in February 2021, despite maintaining that he acted in self-defence during an attack on his farm in the state.
The court of appeal, in June 2022, upheld the conviction, dismissing his self-defence claim.
In January 2025, the supreme court also affirmed the death sentence, although the judgement featured a dissenting opinion that called for clemency.
The case had sparked widespread public debate across Nigeria, particularly on the issues of self-defence and capital punishment.
