Ogebe reiterates senior Supreme Court Justice recommends Sunday Jackson for clemency; Jackson grateful to Nigerians for advocacy on his behalf
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian-American living in Washington, has stressed how the dissenting opinion issued by Supreme Court Justice Helen Ogunwumiju in the Sunday Jackson death judgment makes it easy and necessary for Adama Governor Adamu Fintiri to exercise his prerogative of mercy and pardon the farmer for unintentionally killing a Fulani herdsman in self-defence.
The certified true copy (CTC) of Ogunwumiju’s dissenting opinion emerged last week, a week after that of the main judgment was released, and her view poured more cold water on the 4-1 majority opinion that most activists, home and abroad, describe as a miscarriage of justice.
Ogebe and other campaigners have been on the Jackson’s case since 2021, and his latest agitation was aired on Arise Television, in an interview with anchor Charles Aniagolu.
The transcript of the interview, which Ogebe sent to TheNiche, is published below:
Charles Aniagolu
Now here in Nigeria, a fight for life is underway.
According to the defense team of Sunday Jackson, a student turned farmer in Adamawa State, it’s a struggle for justice for a man who’s been on death row for more than a decade, but who now faces the imminent prospect of death by hanging after the Supreme Court in Abuja upheld the judgment of a lower court last month.
Mr. Jackson’s lawyers say he was attacked on his farm by a Fulani herdsman who stabbed him several times. He managed to overpower his attacker, and after retrieving the knife stabbed the herdsman in the neck. The herdsman subsequently died.
Mr. Jackson’s defense team argued that it was an act of self-defense, but the High Court in Yola rejected that argument. And in early March, the Supreme Court in Abuja upheld its judgment.
Mr. Jackson’s lawyers say this is a textbook case of a miscarriage of justice. So what hope is there now for getting Mr. Jackson retrospective justice by way of clemency as his lawyers race to save him from the hangman?
Well for more on this, I’m joined now on the line from Washington by a member of Mr. Jackson’s legal team, the International human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe.
Emmanuel, thank you very much indeed for joining us. I’m sorry for the delay in getting to you. we heard the first guest was a bit late in turning up.
Let’s start with the dissenting opinion from one of the justices in that case, briefly summarize for us the basis for her dissent.
Emmanuel Ogebe
This was an outstanding dissension and it came from the most senior justice on the panel. Justice Helen Ogunwumiju.
I love what she says. She said, “I cannot agree that a reasonable man who had been stabbed twice already and who was still being attacked with a herdsman stick would hesitate to fight for his life.”
This is the beauty of our judicial system. This is a glowing, dissent.
What the judge says is, “I’m sorry. I don’t agree. There are four of you who have voted the other way, but I don’t agree with you,” and she gave several reasons why.
One, she doesn’t believe that someone who was stabbed twice and who stabbed the other person three times was excessive. She said that wasn’t excessive. That wasn’t vengeful as claimed by the majority.
She also said that Jackson’s testimony was consistent in his statement to the police originally, and in his testimony in the courts. And she also of course pointed out that the judge, the trial judge, saw the scars on his neck.
So there was no need to talk about whether he submitted a medical report or not.
And I, think one of the things that Justice Ogunwumiju said that was beautiful was she said, “Look, you guys are making a mistake here. A guy who is fighting for his life is not thinking, ‘what part of the body of the attacker should I strike?’ ‘How many times should I strike to stay within the confines of the law?’
“No, he’s in a fight for his life where it is killed or be killed. So the question of, oh, premeditation, he, planned to kill him – it doesn’t even arise.”
Charles Aniagolu
I’m just listening to you Emmanuel summarize that dissenting opinion. It just sounds very powerful and I wonder whether that could form at least part of the basis for your appeal to the governor for clemency.
Emmanuel Ogebe
Absolutely. I think so. Jackson is having a very, good post-judgment turnaround.
We were in Yola recently and we submitted a letter for pardon, written by the father of his attacker who said, “Hey, listen, we’re done with this. We’re not, we don’t support this judgment. We’ve forgiven this guy, and we ask that the governor should forgive him.”
But to come around and see that the most senior Supreme Court Justice on the five-man panel wrote and said, “I set this guy free. I set aside the judgment even though I’m in the minority.”
[In effect,] se said, “This is a great candidate for the governor of the state to grant a clemency.”
So we now have a Supreme Court Justice on the record backing clemency for Sunday Jackson.
Charles Aniagolu
Wo where are things now?
With that sort of appeal for clemency, how much time does the governor have to reach a decision?
Emmanuel Ogebe
In a statement I issued immediately after the dissent emerged, mysteriously, a week later than the main judgment itself, I asked the governor to do that immediately in the spirit of the Salah celebrations that we currently have.
If the father has said, “set him free”, what more are we waiting for? I think that the Supreme Court’s dissenting opinion is a perfect catalyst – that’s all the governor needs at this point to make this happen.
But let me say something about Jackson. Jackson is very thankful to you and to Nigerians who have spoken out on his behalf.
He had given up, he thought he was as good as dead. But hearing about the efforts we’re making on clemency has given him a fresh new lease on life. And one of the things that I think your listening public should know is that Jackson was not idle in prison. He went to school while he was in prison.
‘Cause remember? he was a student when this happened and he has obtained a diploma while there. So it’s really bizarre that we would want to execute a man who even while in the worst moments of his life was doing everything to improve himself in the prison system.
I know that the governor of Adamawa State tends to issue pardons and so on and so forth, on the anniversary of his administration.
We’re hoping he’ll do it even faster than that and do it right now in the middle of the sallah celebrations.
Charles Aniagolu
It is you and the human rights lawyers who’ve come from America to help this man who need to be commended, not us. You are the guys who are doing the really commendable work.
And I really hope that it goes well, and I understand that after this, if, just in case the governor doesn’t, grant in clemency, there is another step, is it? You can go to President Tinubu?
Emmanuel Ogebe
Unfortunately, constitutionally the power lies solely with the governor. the most that President Tinubu can do is appeal to the governor to intervene.
But I should point out that even judicially, there is a window where this can go back to the Supreme Court, and one of the reasons is that we have detected that the trial judge made a significant factual error during the trial at the High Court. Sunday Jackson was charged with two stabs, not three.
And so when the Supreme Court says he should hang for three stabs, that is actually factually wrong.
His conviction was two stabs. And so the trial judge erroneously put in her own impressions or opinions into the record, and that’s what the Supreme Court went off of.
So we’re hoping that it is still possible to go back and say, “My lords, there’s a critical error here. This man shouldn’t lose his life on wrong information presented by the judge.”
Charles Aniagolu
I wish you the very best of luck and I wish him the very best.
Emmanuel Ogebe is a member of Mr. Jackson’s legal team. He is an international human rights lawyer, and he was talking to me on the line there from Washington.
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