Toba Owojaiye reporting
Abuja, Nigeria.
The Nigerian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Sunday Jackson, a 29-year-old farmer from Dong community in Demsa Local Government Area, Adamawa State, convicted for the 2018 killing of a Fulani herdsman, Buba Ardo Bawuro.
Jackson had consistently maintained that his actions were in self-defense.
Truth Live News gathered that in 2018, while tending to his farm in Kodomti community, Numan LGA, Jackson encountered Bawuro, who had reportedly allowed his cattle to graze on Jackson’s crops. When confronted, Bawuro allegedly attacked Jackson with a knife, inflicting injuries.
During the ensuing struggle, Jackson managed to disarm Bawuro and, fearing for his life, fatally stabbed him in the neck.
Jackson was arrested and charged with culpable homicide. In February 2021, the Adamawa State High Court, presided over by Justice Fatima Ahmed Tafida, found him guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging.
The court held that after disarming Bawuro, Jackson had the opportunity to escape but chose not to, thereby invalidating his self-defense claim.
Jackson’s legal team appealed the verdict, but the Supreme Court recently affirmed the lower court’s decision, exhausting his legal avenues and leaving him on death row.
The case has sparked significant controversy and discussions about self-defense rights in Nigeria.
Human rights advocates, including Emmanuel Ogebe, have criticized the verdict as a failure of the Nigerian justice system.
Ogebe highlighted concerns over the quality of Jackson’s legal representation and procedural lapses during the trial.
In an interview with Arise TV, Ogebe stated, “There are more Nigerian citizens on death row in Nigeria now for defending themselves against Fulani herdsmen than there are Fulani herdsmen in Nigerian prisons on death row. That’s just wrong. It’s unacceptable.”
With all legal options exhausted, Jackson’s fate now rests with the Governor of Adamawa State, who has the constitutional authority to grant clemency. Advocates are urging the governor to consider the circumstances of the case and commute the death sentence.
This case brings back to national discourse the ongoing tensions between farmers and herders in Nigeria and raises critical questions about the balance between self-defense rights and legal interpretations within the country’s justice system.