Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has exercised executive clemency to secure the freedom of a farmer condemned to death, drawing renewed attention to mercy, justice, and the limits of capital punishment within Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
The decision has brought closure to a case that stirred sustained legal debate and public advocacy, with many observers describing the pardon as a humane intervention after years of litigation and international scrutiny.
Moreover, the approval, granted in Adamawa State as part of the Christmas and New Year goodwill measures, led to the release of a farmer, Sunday Jackson, who had been on death row following his conviction for a fatal incident on his farmland several years ago.
Jackson was not the only beneficiary of the governor’s action as two other inmates, Joseph Eugene and Maxwell Ibrahim, were granted full state pardons, while the sentences of five additional prisoners were entirely remitted across custodial centres in Yola, Numan, Jada, and Kaduna.
Explaining the rationale behind the clemency, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, said the decision was based on recommendations from the Adamawa State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy after a detailed review process.
“The council carefully examined issues of conduct, rehabilitation, and evidence of reform,” Wonosikou said. “The governor was convinced that these individuals had shown genuine change and deserved an opportunity to return to society.”
Jackson’s conviction had remained one of the most contentious criminal cases linked to self-defence claims in Nigeria.
An Adamawa High Court sentenced him to death in February 2021, rejecting his argument that he acted to protect himself during an attack on his farm.
However, the controversy deepened after the Court of Appeal upheld the judgement in 2022, and the Supreme Court later affirmed the verdict, despite a notable dissenting opinion that called for compassion and restraint.
Furthermore, the case attracted global attention earlier this year when a United States congressman urged Nigerian authorities to intervene, arguing that the conviction conflicted with widely recognised principles of self-defence.
With the governor’s intervention, Jackson’s release represents a decisive moment in a prolonged legal saga, hence reinforcing ongoing national conversations about executive mercy, proportional justice, and the future of death sentences in Nigeria.
