On January 27, 2015, in the dusty fields of Kodomti village, Adamawa State, 20-something farmer Sunday Jackson faced a nightmare.
A Fulani herdsman, Ardo Bawuro, allegedly attacked him with a dagger after cattle destroyed his crops. In the brutal struggle, Jackson wrested the knife and stabbed his assailant three times in the neck, killing him.
Jackson insisted it was pure self-defense, he was wounded, exhausted, fighting for his life on his own land.
Arrested soon after, he spent years in limbo before an Adamawa High Court convicted him of culpable homicide in 2021, sentencing him to death by hanging.
Appeals failed. On March 7, 2025, Nigeria's Supreme Court upheld the verdict, ruling he used "excessive force" despite one justice dissenting strongly for full self-defense.
Now, the case has exploded internationally.
In a fiery November 22, 2025, Fox News interview, US Congressman Riley Moore (R-WV) laid down the law: No expanded US military partnership with Nigeria, crucial for battling Boko Haram and militants unless Abuja frees Jackson and disarms radical Fulani groups.
"One of the first steps is releasing Sunday Jackson," Moore said, blasting the conviction as unjust while armed herders roam free.
The demand echoes US redesignation of Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern" for religious freedom violations, with Jackson's plight symbolizing perceived bias against Christian farmers in the Middle Belt.
Human rights advocates whisper this could be a turning point, or spark diplomatic fire.
As Jackson languishes on death row, eyes turn to President Tinubu: Pardon him and unlock American firepower, or stand firm and risk isolation?
The world watches a farmer's fate hang in geopolitical balance.
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