U.S. Representative Riley M. Moore (R-WV) has urged the Nigerian government to pardon Sunday Jackson, a Christian farmer sentenced to death for killing a Fulani herdsman in what he insists was an act of self-defense.

Moore made the appeal during a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Nigeria’s religious freedom crisis, framing Jackson’s case as emblematic of broader injustices in the country’s herder-farmer conflicts.

Moore recounted the 2015 incident in Adamawa State’s Codonti Forest, where Jackson confronted herdsman Buba Ardo Bawuro trespassing with cattle. Jackson was stabbed twice before disarming Bawuro and fatally stabbing him. Despite the circumstances, an Adamawa High Court convicted Jackson of murder in 2021, a ruling upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court on March 7, 2025. The courts argued that Jackson should have retreated after disarming his attacker.

Calling the judgment “preposterous,” Moore questioned why Jackson faces execution while “Fulani militants roam with AK-47s unchecked.” He cited Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, which bans civilian arms, yet alleged authorities routinely ignore armed herders despite thousands of farmer deaths annually.

The appeal came as President Trump redesignated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for severe religious freedom violations. Witnesses at the hearing, including Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, testified that more than 7,000 Christians had been killed in 2025 alone. Moore pressed officials to view Jackson’s case as a symbol of systemic injustice fueling genocide claims.

Nigeria’s government has yet to respond, but Moore’s plea echoes growing domestic calls from religious leaders and rights groups for clemency. The case highlights the deep disparities in how self-defense is treated amid escalating herder-farmer clashes, religious killings and displacements impacting millions across the country.