Nigeria Christian Facing Death Sentence Despite Doubts About Trial (Worthy News Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABIJA (Worthy News) – An umbrella group of Nigeria’s main Christian denominations has condemned the Nigerian Supreme Court over upholding the death sentence for a Christian farmer who defended himself against an attack by Islamic Fulani herdsmen.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said the March 7 ruling would see Sunday Jackson being executed, although he was nearly killed in 2015 by an armed herdsman in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa State.
CAN Chairman John Joseph Hayab and Bishop Mohammed Naga, the association’s secretary general for northern Nigeria, said it was painful that both Appeal and Supreme Courts upheld the sentence of death by hanging.
They also cited the trial judge’s “misinterpreting” Section 23 of the Adamawa State Penal Code Laws to mean that Jackson should have fled and not defended himself.
“It is a distortion of logic to suggest that the defendant should have run away, despite admitting into evidence that he was stabbed in the leg and thus momentarily handicapped,” they stressed in a press statement.
The CAN leaders joined Jackson in appealing to Nigeria’s Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to “kindly exercise his constitutional duties and ‘prerogative of mercy,’ and in the spirit of peacebuilding and reconciliation – which both the state and the nation now desperately need – to please pardon Sunday Jackson.”
EXCRUCIATING PAIN
Jackson, they added, “has truly been subjected to the excruciating pain of waiting for death in the midst of the shadow of death by the grave travesty of the misinterpretation of Section 23 of the Adamawa State Penal Code Laws and the unnecessarily prolonged trial that lasted six and a half years, which ordinarily should not have lasted such a lengthy period.”
In a separate letter shared with Sahara Reporters news agency and seen by Worthy News, Jackson also urged Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to grant him clemency.
Jackson recalled that he was just 20 years old and an expectant father when he was attacked by a knife-wielding herdsman while farming for his family.
In a desperate struggle, he managed to disarm his assailant, who was fatally wounded in the process, the Christian explained.
However, Jackson argued that instead of being recognized as a victim defending himself, the legal system turned against him.
He noted that he spent the last decade behind bars, including some seven years in pretrial detention, even though evidence apparently showed he had been stabbed in the leg.
LONG TRIAL
When his case finally went to trial, Jackson was sentenced to death, with the court ruling that he should have fled after disarming his attacker.
The Supreme Court upheld this judgment, leaving Jackson facing execution. Now in his early 30s, Jackson said he had not been able to see his now 10-year-old daughter, born months after his arrest.
“I have been devastated emotionally and mentally as I have had to deal with the pain of this grave injustice against me. I have never set eyes on my 10-year-old daughter all these years, as she was born after my arrest,” he wrote.
“In light of these circumstances, I urge Your Excellency to exercise your prerogative of mercy and grant me a pardon, particularly as I have also spent ten years in the correctional facility through the determination of this case. This would be a just and compassionate decision, considering the clear miscarriage of justice that has occurred in this case.”
His case has underscored broader concerns about the legal system in Nigeria, where thousands of Christians have been killed annually, mainly by several Islamic groups.
Nigeria ranks 7th on the World Watch List (WWL) of 50 nations, where advocacy group Open Doors says Christians suffer most for their faith in Christ.
According to Open Doors research, more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined.
THOUSANDS KILLED
Some 3,100 Christians were killed, and 2,830 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, far more than other countries in the same year, the WWL noted.
While “Nigeria has greater religious freedom than other countries in the World Watch List top 10,” the “biggest threat is from Islamic militants who seek to destroy Christianity and Christians in the region,” Open Doors warned.
It said that “Jihadist violence” continues to escalate in Nigeria, and Christians are at particular risk from targeted attacks by Islamic militant groups, including “Fulani” militant herdsmen, as well as groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
“These attacks are shockingly brutal in nature – many believers are killed, particularly men, while women are often kidnapped and targeted for sexual violence. These militants also destroy homes, churches, and livelihoods.”
Additionally, “Kidnap for ransom is used regularly with the deliberate intention of destabilizing Christian families and the church,” added Open Doors.
More than 16.2 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, including high numbers from Nigeria, have been driven from their homes by violence and conflict, according to researchers. Millions now live in displacement camps.
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