The Secretary General of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, David Bakare, has appealed to Governor Ahmadu Fintri of Adamawa state to pardon Sunday Jackson, a man sentenced to death for killing a Fulani herdsman in self-defense.
Bakare appealed in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna on Tuesday, urging the governor to temper justice with mercy.
“There are many reasons why we feel the judgment should be better, but the Supreme Court has acted supremely. However, the governor should act by the mercy that is supreme over judgment,” he said.
Bakare emphasized that the PFN is pleading with the governor to have mercy on Jackson in the spirit of love and for the fact that “all of us are pleading for mercy from God.”
Bakare appeals to Fintri to pardon Jackson, sentenced to death for killing his attacker in self-defence
The clergyman said, “There are many reasons why we feel the judgment should be better, but the Supreme Court has acted supremely, and the governor should act by the mercy that is supreme over judgment.
“He should grant Jackson a pardon in the spirit of love and for the fact that all of us are pleading for mercy from God.
“Among ourselves, we should grant mercy in the spirit of the season of sacrifice of fasting and prayers by both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. This is our desire and our plea”.
THE WHISTLERreports that on March 7, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of a high court, which sentenced Jackson to death for killing his attacker in self-defence.
Jackson was reportedly cultivating his farm when the herder, armed with a knife, attacked him and stabbed him.
He was said to have overpowered his aggressor in self-defence, resulting in the herder’s death.
In a ruling in 2021, an Adamawa high court sentenced Jackson to death for the killing.
Jackson’s counsel and an international human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe,
criticized the Supreme Court’s judgment, saying it sets a “very unfortunate precedent.”
“This is really a sad day for Nigerians and their rights to self-defense,” he added.
