President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, the woman sentenced to death for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Sanda, who was convicted on January 27, 2020, was among 175 convicts and former convicts granted clemency on Thursday following recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The 37-year-old, sentenced for culpable homicide, had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
According to presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Sanda’s family pleaded for her release in the best interest of her two children. “The plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner”, he stated.
The case dates back to November 19, 2017, when Sanda stabbed her husband, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party national chairman Halliru Bello, to death.
In January 2020, Justice Yusuf Halilu, of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court found Sanda guilty of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging.
The judge ruled that she stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife with clear intent to kill. He also invoked the “Doctrine of the Last Scene”, which holds that the last person seen with a victim is presumed responsible for the death.
Sanda’s appeal to the Court of Appeal in Abuja was dismissed in December 2020 by Justice Steven Adah, who ruled that her argument lacked merit. She had claimed that her conviction was based on circumstantial evidence, with no confessional statement, murder weapon, or multiple witnesses.
The presidential pardons also included posthumous recognition for nationalist Sir Herbert Macaulay and the Ogoni-9, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, as part of efforts to address historic injustices.
