The Gongola Peoples Forum (GPF) has made a passionate appeal to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State to exercise his constitutional prerogative of mercy and grant a pardon to Sunday Jackson, who faces execution following a Supreme Court ruling.

Speaking at a press conference in Yola, the national chairman of the socio-cultural organisation, which represents the indigenous ethnic groups of the Gongola region, Markus Gundiri, described Jackson’s conviction as a harsh outcome of an unfortunate self-defence incident.

According to the forum, Jackson was attacked by a nomadic herder while working on his farm. In the struggle, he managed to disarm his assailant and, in an attempt to protect himself, inflicted fatal injuries on the herder.

He said, “Despite Jackson’s claim of self-defense, the courts ruled against him, sentencing him to death. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, with a split decision among the justices. The judgment stated that after disarming his attacker, Jackson should have thrown away the weapon and fled, a ruling the GPF says ignores the realities of self-preservation.

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“Jackson was unarmed when he was attacked. He was not the aggressor. He only acted to save his own life. Yet, the law has treated him harshly.”

The GPF said the devastating consequences of Jackson’s decade-long incarceration, noting that he has never seen his daughter, who was born after his arrest. His wife has since moved on and remarried, leaving him without a family to return to.

“This is a case where the law, in its rigidity, has acted unjustly. But the Constitution provides for mercy in such circumstances. Governor Fintiri has the power to right this wrong,” the group asserted.

They urged the governor to grant Jackson a state pardon, arguing that such a decision would uphold the principles of justice, democracy, and the rule of law. The forum also called on the media to sustain public discourse on the case until Jackson is granted clemency.

As the final hope for Jackson now rests with Governor Fintiri, the GPF’s appeal underscores a broader concern over recurring farmer-herder conflicts and the legal system’s handling of self-defence cases. The coming days will reveal whether the governor will heed the call to save a man who, in their words, “only sought to protect his own life.”