On Friday (March 7) the Nigerian Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for protecting himself from the attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
Calling the ruling a “terrifying miscarriage of justice,” lawyer and international human rights advocate Emmanuel Ogebe said at a press conference that the former judge replaced her opinion in place of the 2021 death sentence handed over to Jackson on Sunday.
“The judge has confusing the facts of the case and has led to a horrific miscarriage of justice, and that must be nullified,” said US-based Ogebe. “From the summary of the appellant’s argument, it is clear that his constitutional rights and protection of self-defense was unfairly denied by the judge.”
Muslim Judge Fatima Ahmed Tafida declared Jackson on February 10, 2021. Advocates of religious freedom call for state pardon and tolerance, fearing that support for the death sentence would be killed in prison.
During the attack by the Fulani herdsmen on Jackson’s farm, one of the assailants stabbed him with a knife. Christian managed to bite it and apparently used it to kill him, Ogebe said.
“Even though he was injured, Jackson overwhelmed the attacker, snatched him a weapon, stabbed him, and then the attacker died,” Ogebe said.
The judge misinterpreted the Nigerian constitution as meaning that Jackson had more options to escape than he would fight, but he said the constitution clearly strengthened the power of citizens to protect themselves.
“In fact, the judge distorted and distorted his head, saying that he should have escaped, admitting evidence that the plaintiff was stabbed in the leg and thus was instantly disabled,” Ogebe said.
The contradiction between the judge’s reasoning and facts was that the conviction and sentence failed because the constitutionally mandated sentence was not delivered within 90 days of the end of the trial. The verdict came 167 days later and added to “serious miscarriage of justice,” he said.
“This is a sad day for Nigerians, as their ability to protect themselves from violent attackers is even lessened,” Ogebe said.
He also said that Jackson awaited just five days in court for trial, which he said, contributed to the “judicial miscarriage textbook case.”
“Instead of a five-day trial, he was detained for six years in a non-discussion trial that did not deny that the death of the deceased occurred as a result of an argument,” Ogebe said. “After spending this time, Mr. Jackson also suffers 167 days of pain to await a judgment as to whether to be released or hanged in violation of constitutional protections against such prolonged delays.”
Jackson was charged with intentional murder of a Fulani attacker identified as Aldo Bauro under section 211 of the Adamawa State Criminal Code.
The leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed concern that the country’s highest courts can accept dominant intense evidence with clear evidence of discrimination against Christians hanged after being attacked by armed herdsmen without provocation and self-defense.
Can Chairman John Joseph Hayabu and Bishop Mohammed Naga, executive director of the Association of Northern Nigeria, said it was painful that both the appeal and the Supreme Court hanged and upheld the death penalty. They also said that a judge misinterpreting Section 23 of the Adamawa Criminal Code Act means that Jackson should not flee and fight in self-defense.
“It’s a distortion of logic to suggest that the defendant should run away despite his acknowledging that he was stabbed in the leg and therefore temporarily impaired,” they said at a press conference.
The can leaders appealed to Adamawa Governor Ahmadu Umar Fintiri to exercise their constitutional duties and the ‘privileges of mercy’.
“Mr. Jackson on Sunday is truly exposed to the unbearable pain of waiting for death in the midst of death by misunderstandings of Section 23 of the Adamawa Criminal Code Act and the tragedy of the unnecessarily long trial that lasted six and a half years.
Nigeria ranks seventh on the 2025 World Watch List of 50 Worst Countries for Christians, leaving it in the most dangerous place on the planet. According to WWL, of the 4,476 Christians killed for faith around the world during the reporting period, 3,100 (69%) were in Nigeria.
“The scale of anti-Christian violence in this country is already at the highest possible level under the global watch list methodology,” the report states.
In the north-central zone of the country, where Christians are more common than they are in the northeast and northwest, Islamic extremist Fulani militias attack farm communities, killing hundreds of Christians and, above all, hundreds of Christians. Jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State (ISWAP) of West African states are also active in northern states in the country where federal control is poor and Christians and their communities continue to be targeted for attacks, sexual violence and the killing of disability. Ransom aid has been increasing significantly in recent years.
The violence spreads across southern states, with new jihadist terrorist group Lakrawa appearing in the northwest, armed with sophisticated weapons and an extremist agenda, WWL noted. Lakrawa is affiliated with the expansionist al-Qaeda rebellion Jamaa Nusrat ul Islam Wa al-Muslimin, or Zinim, which is derived from Mali.
