Maryam Sanda, sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, has been granted a presidential pardon by President Bola Tinubu after spending nearly seven years in custody at Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
The pardon was announced on Saturday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy. The statement explained that the release followed a plea from Sanda’s family, showing the best interest of her two children. The Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, led by Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), recommended the pardons.
Maryam Sanda was convicted by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court in January 2020 for fatally stabbing her husband at their home. The judge had affirmed the death sentence, emphasizing that “whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward.”
Sanda’s legal team appealed the conviction on 20 grounds alleging bias and insufficient evidence. However, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence in December 2020, with Justice Stephen Adah affirming the circumstances as strong proof of guilt.
The police also expressed readiness to defend the conviction at the Supreme Court level.The pardon list is categorized into six groups: pardoned individuals, posthumous pardons (including the Ogoni Nine), victims of the Ogoni Nine honoured, clemency beneficiaries, inmates recommended for term reductions, and death row inmates whose sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment.
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