U.S. Congressman Riley M. Moore has urged the Nigerian government to grant a pardon to Sunday Jackson, a farmer on death row for the killing of a Fulani herdsman during what he maintained was an act of self-defense.
Moore made the appeal during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
He argued that Jackson’s conviction and death sentence were unjust, given the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“I would urge the Nigerian government to consider pardoning Sunday Jackson, who was defending his own life during an attack,” Moore said. “The assailant lost his life in the struggle, yet Jackson is now facing the death penalty. Where is the justice in that?”
The case dates back to 2014, when Jackson was confronted on his farm in the Codonti Forest of Adamawa State by a herdsman, Buba Bawuro, who had trespassed with his cattle.
Jackson reported that the encounter escalated into a violent confrontation during which he was repeatedly attacked. In the struggle to protect himself, he managed to disarm Bawuro, resulting in the latter’s death.
Despite insisting that he acted in self-defense, Jackson was arrested and charged with murder. A Yola High Court sentenced him to death by hanging in 2021, a ruling later upheld by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
On March 7, 2025, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the sentence, prompting renewed calls for clemency from human rights advocates and international observers.
