Tinubu Grants Maryam Sanda A Presidential Pardon After Killing Her Husband

President Bola Tinubu has granted clemency to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute.

Mr Tinubu’s decision was announced on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

Ms Sanda, now 37, had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre before her release.

According to Mr Onanuga, the decision followed pleas from her family, who argued that freeing her was in the best interest of her two children. He added that the pardon was also based on her good conduct in custody and her “remorse and embrace of a new lifestyle.”

PREMIUM TIMES had extensively reported Ms Sanda’s prosecution and conviction. The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja found her guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced her to death by hanging in January 2020.

Justice Yusuf Halilu held that Ms Sanda fatally stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife, saying the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The victim, Bilyaminu Bello, was the son of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello.

Ms Sanda was first arraigned by the Nigerian police in November 2017 for allegedly stabbing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, to death at their Abuja home.

Her trial began amid several bail applications, which were repeatedly denied until March 2018, when she was eventually granted bail on health grounds.

The proceedings were marked by frequent adjournments, the disappearance of witnesses, and the withdrawal of her defence lawyer, causing significant delays.

During the hearings, witnesses narrated how Ms Sanda had allegedly attempted to stab her husband multiple times before his death, while she argued that the killing was not premeditated but the result of a domestic quarrel.

After over two years of trial, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court found Ms Sanda guilty of culpable homicide on 27 January 2020. He ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced her to death by hanging.

Ms Sanda is among 175 convicts and former convicts that President Tinubu pardoned or reduced their sentences.

The list includes “illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners…,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

According to Mr Onanuga, “President Tinubu granted clemency to most of them based on the reports that the convicts had shown remorse and good conduct. He forgave some due to old age, the acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).“

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