Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has exercised his constitutional powers to grant a pardon to Sunday Jackson, a farmer who was sentenced to death after being convicted for killing a herder during a violent confrontation on his farm.
The pardon, approved on Monday under Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution, followed prolonged appeals from community leaders as well as the family of the deceased, who urged the governor to show mercy.
Jackson, a native of Don village in Demsa Local Government Area, was attacked on his farmland in 2015, an encounter that escalated into a fatal struggle. He was arrested shortly after and spent more than ten years in custody. Although he maintained that the act was committed in self-defence, the Supreme Court eventually upheld his death sentence, a decision that sparked widespread public debate about self-defence laws and justice in Nigeria.
Responding to the appeals, Governor Fintiri approved Jackson’s release, describing the decision as an act of mercy in line with constitutional provisions and the recommendations of the Adamawa State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Yola, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, said the pardon was part of activities marking the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Wonosikou also announced that the governor approved the full remission of sentences for five other inmates—Joshua James Audo, Adamu Ibrahim, Mohammed Abubakar, Ibrahim Usman and Saidu Abubakar—who are serving terms at the Medium Security Custodial Centres in Numan and Jada.
According to the statement, the beneficiaries were selected based on their good behaviour and evidence of positive reform during their time in custody.
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Governor Fintiri was quoted as saying that the decision was taken “in the exercise of my prerogative of mercy as provided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in line with the recommendations of the Adamawa State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.”
He added that the gesture was intended to encourage rehabilitation and reintegration of reformed inmates back into society.
