The Supreme Court of Nigeria on March 7 upheld the death sentence for a Christian who defended himself against an attack by Fulani herdsmen.
Calling the ruling a “horrendous miscarriage of justice,” attorney and international human rights advocate Emmanuel Ogebe said in a press statement that the original trial judge substituted her opinion in place of facts in the 2021 death sentence handed to Sunday Jackson, who at that time had been imprisoned for several years after herdsmen attacked his farm in Adamawa state.
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“The judge had confused the facts of the case resulting in a horrendous miscarriage of justice, and as such it must be voided,” the U.S.-based Ogebe said. “From Appellant’s brief of argument, it is patently clear that his constitutional right and protection of self-defense was unjustly and injudiciously denied him by the trial judge.”
Justice Fatima Ahmed Tafida, a Muslim, sentenced Jackson to death on Feb. 10, 2021. Religious freedom advocates fear the upholding of the death sentence will result in Jackson being killed in prison and called for a state pardon and clemency.
In the Fulani herdsmen attack on Jackson’s farm, one of the assailants stabbed him with a knife, which the Christian managed to seize and admittedly used to kill him, Ogebe said.
“Despite injuries he sustained, Jackson overpowered his attacker, wresting the weapon from him and stabbed him as well, following which his attacker died,” Ogebe said.
The trial judge misinterpreted the Nigerian constitution to mean Jackson had the option of fleeing rather than fighting, though the constitution clearly empowers citizens to defend themselves, he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
