Maryam Sanda, who was 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 six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
According to a statement released on Saturday by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said, “Her family pleaded for her release, arguing that it was 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.”
The pardon is part of Tinubu’s larger decision to offer mercy to 175 Nigerians and foreigners, including renowned people like the late environmental campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and other members of the “Ogoni Nine.”
“This marked one of the most expansive uses of the presidential prerogative of mercy, touching on high-profile historical cases,” the statement added.
The decision was made in response to recommendations by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, which was chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
Maryam Sanda’s case initially came to public prominence on January 27, 2020, when Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court in Abuja convicted and sentenced her to death by hanging on the grounds that she fatally stabbed her husband at their house.
Maryam Sanda sentenced to death by hanging for husband’s murder
Maryam Sanda arrested for stabbing husband to death
“She should reap what she has sown, for it has been said that ‘thou shalt not kill,’ and whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward,” Justice Halilu declared at the time.
Sanda’s legal team filed an appeal on 20 grounds, disputing the evidence and alleging bias, but the Court of Appeal denied it on December 3, 2020, upholding her conviction and death sentence.
“The circumstances surrounding the death can be the best proof of what is being alleged,” noted Justice Stephen Adah, reinforcing the lower court’s findings.
Police authorities later sought to have the Supreme Court uphold the sentence. Police counsel James Idachaba said, “We are satisfied with the findings of the trial and appeals court, and we are prepared to defend the law’s position at the Supreme Court,” highlighting the commitment to justice in the case.
The presidential pardon list, which was released on Saturday, is divided into six categories: pardoned individuals, posthumous pardons (including the Ogoni Nine), victims of the Ogoni Nine honored, clemency recipients, inmates recommended for reduced sentences, and inmates on death row whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
