President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello. The pardon came after she had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
In a statement issued on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency explained that Sanda’s release followed a plea from her family.
The family’s request, according to the statement, was anchored on compassion and the need to protect the future of her two young children.
“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,” Onanuga stated.
The Presidency added that Sanda’s clemency was part of a broader presidential pardon exercise that benefited 175 Nigerians and foreigners. It also included posthumous pardons for late environmental activist 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 noted.
The decision, the Presidency further explained, followed the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
Sanda gained national attention after being convicted by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, who found her guilty of stabbing her husband to death during a domestic dispute.
Delivering judgment on January 27, 2020, Justice Halilu declared, “She should reap what she has sown, for it has been said that ‘thou shall not kill,’ and whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward.”
Her legal team had appealed the ruling on 20 grounds, alleging bias and inconsistencies in the trial court’s findings, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on December 3, 2020, upholding both the conviction and death sentence.
