Quick Summary
- Nigerian Christian farmer Sunday Jackson granted full pardon by Adamawa state Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
- Jackson was sentenced to death in 2021 for killing an attacker in self-defense.
- The sentencing was upheld by Nigeria’s Supreme Court in March, prompting outcry from human rights advocates.
A Nigerian Christian farmer who was sentenced to death after killing a Fulani radical in self-defense following an attack on his farm has been released from prison after Adamawa state Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri issued a full pardon following pressure from a U.S. congressman.
Christian rights advocates and U.S. Rep. Riley M. Moore, R-W.V., are celebrating the release of Sunday Jackson, a student and farmer from the Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State, who was sentenced to death in 2021 over a 2015 confrontation on his farm in which he was stabbed with a knife that he then used to kill the attacker, Buba Ardo Bawuro.
“Sunday Jackson is free! After more than a decade in prison serving a death sentence for defending himself, Sunday Jackson has been pardoned,” Moore, who has emerged as one of Capitol Hill’s most vocal advocates for Christians in Nigeria, wrote in a statement Tuesday.
“Sunday is a Christian farmer who, like countless of other Christians in Nigeria, was brutally attacked by an Islamic radical. Sunday fought back in self-defense, killing his attacker. I have been advocating for Sunday’s release both in public and in private meetings, including during my recent Congressional Delegation visit to Nigeria.”
BREAKING: Sunday Jackson is FREE! Glory to God! pic.twitter.com/IU45sIprQp
— Spiricoco Twittter (@SpiricocoNg) December 23, 2025
Fintiri’s chief press secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, announced Jackson’s pardon on Tuesday, saying the move was done “in commemoration of Christmas and New Year celebrations.”
“Jackson who is in Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre has been pardoned alongside Joseph Eugene from the Medium Security Custodial Centre Yola new and Maxwell Ibrahim serving at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kaduna,” Wonosikou said in a statement, according to Peoples Gazette.
Jackson says he was working on his farm in Numan when the deceased herded his animals onto Jackson’s farm. The farmer says Bawuro attacked when he tried to confront him about the situation, but the farmer managed to overpower and kill the man.
In 2021, an Adamawa High Court judge ruled that Jackson should have fled the scene rather than kill the attacker. He was sentenced to death by hanging, a ruling that was upheld in March by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Among those advocating for Jackson’s release have been human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe of the US Nigeria Law Group and United States-based Pastor William Devlin, volunteer CEO of the nonprofit charities REDEEM! and Widows & Orphans, who travels the world to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians.
“Sunday Jackson our Christian brother in Nigeria has been pardoned,” Devlin wrote on Facebook. “Barrister Ogebe & Rev Devlin worked as team … we Give God all glory/credit!”
In March, Devlin made headlines when he offered his life in exchange for Jackson’s while speaking with reporters after the Supreme Court upheld his sentencing.
“I see it as obedience to the Scripture,” the pastor told The Christian Post. “Jesus Messiah did it for me. He went to the cross, and I have a new life because of that. So why wouldn’t I do that for someone else?”
