THIS DAWN — A deeply emotional moment unfolded in Adamawa State this Christmas season as His Royal Majesty, the Hama Bachama Shaga Ismaila, personally presented gifts from recently‑pardoned death row inmate Sunday Jackson to his two young daughters.
The gesture was facilitated by international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe.
It symbolized not just the delivery of presents but the restoration of hope and dignity after years of despair.
Jackson, who spent nearly 11 years on death row had never been able to send anything home to his family.
He was convicted for killing an armed Fulani herdsman, in what rights groups insist was an act of self‑defence.
The Gift of Hope
This year, however, he entrusted Ogebe with two schoolbags handmade by fellow inmates at Yola prison.
One was for the daughter he raised before his arrest, and the other for the daughter he had never met, born after his incarceration.
Ogebe, who has long advocated for Jackson’s case, added stuffed toy animals contributed by his own daughter in America.
He explained that in the United States, it is a tradition for churches and communities to buy Christmas gifts for children of incarcerated parents.
“This is beyond the value of the gifts,” Ogebe said. “This is about the gift of hope.
“In the 10 years and 10 months he’s been in prison, he’s never sent anything home.
“But now things have changed,” he added.
Royal Intervention
Despite his busy schedule, which included hosting a Bwatiye cultural festival and mediating communal peace talks, His Royal Majesty Shaga Ismaila welcomed Jackson’s daughters to his palace.
There, he personally presented the gifts, underscoring the importance of community solidarity and compassion.
The involvement of the traditional ruler lent weight to the symbolic act. It highlighted the role of cultural institutions in healing wounds left by injustice.
For Ogebe, the delivery of Jackson’s gifts was part of a broader mission.
He recalled that just two Christmases ago, he had secured the release of another Nigerian, Emmanuel Ihejirika.
Ihejirika had languished on death row in Indonesia for 20 years under mistaken identity.
“Most lawyers will never have one such case in their career, much less two in two years,” Ogebe reflected.
“We did it pro bono. Neither of them could ever afford my services,” he observed.
He described flying to Indonesia twice and to Nigeria five times over 18 years to fight Ihejirika’s case.
That success, he said, made it imperative to achieve a similar outcome for Jackson in Nigeria.
“It would have broken my heart if I couldn’t do for Jackson in Nigeria what Indonesia—the world’s largest Muslim nation—did for a Nigerian abroad,” he noted.
Jackson Family Revelations
Jackson’s ordeal was compounded by personal tragedy.
During Ogebe’s first prison visit in 2021, he discovered that Jackson had been unaware of his second child, born after his arrest.
“I was the one who broke the news to Jackson that he had a second child—a girl—and she was already six years old at that point,” Ogebe recounted.
Jackson also later learned that his wife had remarried and subsequently died, leaving his children in the care of extended family.
For Ogebe, the timing of Jackson’s gift carried profound spiritual meaning.
“Both occurring on Christmas Eve reminds me of the original Christmas,” he said.
“The birth of Jesus was not salvation but the hope of salvation.
“He ultimately paid the death penalty that pardoned us for eternity.
“As has been said, ‘We owed a debt we could not pay, he paid a debt he did not owe’,” noted Ogebe.
The presentation of Jackson’s prison‑made gifts to his daughters by the Bachama royal father was more than a seasonal gesture.
It was a testament to resilience, compassion, and the enduring power of hope.
For Jackson’s children, the gifts were tangible reminders of their father’s love despite years of separation.
For the community, it was a moment of healing and solidarity.
And for Ogebe, it was another chapter in a remarkable journey of advocacy that continues to bring light into the darkest corners of injustice.
