Some rights groups on Monday joined other Nigerians in criticising the Supreme Court’s judgment upholding the death sentence of Sunday Jackson, calling it a miscarriage of justice.
The apex court On Friday, March 7, 2025, upheld the death sentence of Jackson, a farmer in his 30s, for killing a Fulani herdsman, Ardo Bawuro, during an altercation on his farmland about seven years ago.
Reports indicate that Jackson was working on his farm when a suspected herder, armed with a knife, allegedly attempted to attack him. Jackson, acting in self-defence, managed to overpower the assailant, resulting in the herder’s death.
Despite this, an Adamawa High Court sentenced Jackson to death in 2021, a ruling that the Supreme Court upheld.
The court ruled that Jackson had the opportunity to escape rather than stab his attacker, a decision that the Supreme Court upheld on March 7, 2025.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Monday, the Chief Executive Officer of Injustice Is Real, a rights-based group, Ngozi Molokwu, condemned the ruling.
She argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt, which should warrant a review of the sentence imposed by the courts.
She said, “I am deeply saddened by the case of the herdsman and the farmer, and I want to use this opportunity to urge the judiciary to revisit this case. Has reasonable doubt been proved here? Has the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the farmer was guilty of murder? They relied on his confession. A confession that the police officer took.
“The police officer who was with him when he made the statement, what was the caution he gave the farmer? Did he read him his rights? The law says beyond a reasonable doubt. There is doubt as to the caution that was given to the farmer. He could have signed the statement under duress.”
Also speaking on Monday, the chief executive officer, Centre for Human and Socioeconomic Rights, Alex Omotehinse, expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court’s judgment, stating that it signalled the loss of “hope for the common man.”
He said, “This is a clear miscarriage of justice. Jackson should not have been charged with murder—this was a case of self-defence. At the very least, it should have been considered manslaughter. Reports indicate that the herder stabbed him twice, and Jackson managed to retrieve the same knife to defend himself, which ultimately led to the herder’s death.
“Everyone is aware of the ongoing clashes between farmers and herders, where, in most cases, it is the farmers who are killed. This is one of the rare instances in recent years where a farmer managed to defend himself and survive by overpowering his attacker.
“Now, we hear that the Supreme Court has upheld the rulings of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. This clearly shows that our judiciary is no longer the last hope of the common man.”
Clashes between herders and farmers are frequent in Nigeria, particularly in Adamawa State.
In a single night in November 2017, over 27 people were killed in a violent confrontation between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in Safere and Kodomti villages, located in Numan Local Government Area.
According to the state police command, most of the victims were women and children.
