Tinubu Grants Presidential Pardon to Maryam Sanda, Convicted for Killing Husband

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.

Sanda, who had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, was among 175 Nigerians and foreigners who benefitted from the latest presidential clemency approved by President Tinubu.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said the decision to pardon Sanda followed pleas from her family, citing her two young children, good conduct in prison, and remorse.

“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 said.

According to the statement, the clemency forms part of a broad exercise reflecting President Tinubu’s commitment to justice tempered with mercy. The list also includes posthumous pardons for prominent Nigerians such as the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and other members of the “Ogoni Nine.”

The Presidency described the gesture as one of the most expansive uses of the presidential prerogative of mercy in recent Nigerian history. It followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

Maryam Sanda gained national attention in 2017 after she was accused of stabbing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of a former PDP chairman, during a domestic dispute at their home in Abuja.

On January 27, 2020, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging, declaring that “whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward.”

Her legal team filed a 20-ground appeal challenging the conviction, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the case and upheld the death sentence on December 3, 2020. The Supreme Court later affirmed the lower courts’ rulings.

The presidential pardon list released on Saturday was divided into six categories pardon recipients, posthumous pardons, clemency beneficiaries, inmates recommended for reduced sentences, and death row inmates whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.