Sunday Jackson: How Supreme Court Dissent Revealed Flaws in Death Sentence

Sunday Jackson, an Adamawa farmer sentenced to death for defending himself against Buba Ardo Bawuro, a herdsman, may be closer to regaining his freedom.

Emmanuel Ogebe, Jackson’s legal counsel, told FIJ on Tuesday that Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, the most senior judge on his appeal case, had discharged and acquitted him of the crimes he was convicted of.

Ogebe explained that Justice Ogunwumiju ruled that it was a case of self-defence and called for the state government’s pardon.

However, he also stated that it could have been worse, as four out of the five judges upheld the death sentence against him. For some unknown reason, Justice Ogunwumiju’s ruling on the case was absent until they pressed for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment.

“At the Supreme Court, when they read Jackson’s case, rather than read the entire judgment, they simply read the case and said, ‘Appeal dismissed’. We were a bit taken aback by that,” he explained to FIJ.

“We didn’t receive the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment until two weeks later. When we finally got it, there were only four judgments out of five.

“Last week, we made inquiries to understand why there were only four judgments instead of five, and we reliably learned that one judgment had not been included. It was our inquiry that uncovered a missing judgment.

“When we learned that all the justices had the same opinion, we wanted to see the missing one because we understood it was a dissenting opinion. We had suspected all along that there would be a dissenting opinion. That day in court, the justice who announced the case said it was a majority opinion; he did not say it was unanimous.

“So when we received the CTC and saw four opinions aligned in one direction, it piqued our interest. We wanted to know whether a judgment had been omitted, and it was. It turned out to be contrary to the other pronouncements and was given by the most senior justice on the panel.”

Jackson’s lawyer said the dissenting opinion gave them hope.

“We got the CTC and reviewed the judgment, and it was really encouraging for us. A cursory review of the majority opinions revealed over 30 errors in the judgment. Seeing the dissenting opinion has given us hope,” Ogebe said.

“We have shared the dissenting judgment with stakeholders and the Adamawa State Government.”

Meanwhile, he also said that someone from his team had visited Bawuro’s father in Kodomti Community, Numan LGA, and the deceased’s father wrote a letter to the state government requesting a pardon for Jackson.

“Consider that we were in Adamawa and submitted a letter from the father of the deceased to the government, asking for a pardon for his son’s ‘killer’,” Ogebe told FIJ.

“In Nigerian judicial history, we probably have not had anything as unprecedented as that.”

Also, Funke Adeoye, the founder of Hope Behind Bars, a prison reform non-governmental organisation providing legal aid to Jackson, confirmed that one of the judges had dismissed the charges against him.

Adeoye said that Jackson was convicted solely based on the confessional statement he wrote without the help of a lawyer, which made the case against him more complicated. She also stated that the Supreme Court had failed to address some technical issues that could have led to the case being thrown out long ago.

“When Jackson wrote his confessional statement, he could not afford a lawyer and had to do so without legal representation. He was convicted solely based on that statement,” Adeoye said.

“Eventually, a legal aid lawyer represented him, but as is often the case in Nigeria, legal aid is under-resourced. Given that he was charged with a capital offence, the law requires a higher standard of scrutiny.

“There were also numerous discrepancies at the High Court. He appealed to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court, where several technical issues were raised. However, the Supreme Court did not address them at all; had they done so, they would have likely dismissed the case.”

Like Ogebe, she also stated that Bawuro’s parents were not even aware that the case had been in court all along. More so, there are powerful actors in the state determined to suppress the case and prevent it from gaining traction.

FIJ sighted the document containing the judgment and saw that Justice Ogunwumiju ruled that since Jackson’s act was committed in a bid to defend himself, it was only self-defence and that the rulings of the lower courts were a miscarriage of justice.

“In the circumstances, I am of the view that the defence of self-defence avails the Appellant and that his response was not excessive. It is my view that the judgment of the two lower Courts should be set aside as a miscarriage of justice,” Justice Ogunwumiju wrote.

“I set aside the judgment of the Court below delivered on 27/6/2022 in Appeal No. CA/YL/158C/2021. I acquit and discharge the Appellant. Since I appear to be in the minority, I recommend this Appellant as a proper candidate for the Governor of Adamawa State to exercise his prerogative of mercy. Appeal Allowed.”

A petition has been launched on Jackson’s behalf for his life to be preserved.