President Bola Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, after spending six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
A statement issued on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Sanda’s release followed appeals from her family and 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).
According to the statement, Sanda’s family pleaded for her freedom in the interest of her two children, citing her remorse, good conduct, and reformation during incarceration.
The presidential pardon forms part of a broader clemency exercise that benefited 175 Nigerians and foreigners, including posthumous pardons for the 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 Presidency said.
Sanda’s case attracted nationwide attention after Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court in Abuja sentenced her to death by hanging on January 27, 2020, for fatally stabbing her husband during a domestic dispute.
In his judgment, Justice Halilu had 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 later appealed the judgment on 20 grounds, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on December 3, 2020, upholding both her conviction and sentence.
Justice Stephen Adah, who delivered the lead judgment at the appellate court, held that “the circumstances surrounding the death can be the best proof of what is being alleged.”
Police prosecutors subsequently urged the Supreme Court to affirm the lower court’s decisions, maintaining that the conviction was based on credible evidence.
The presidency noted that the pardon list released on Saturday covered six categories — including full pardons, posthumous pardons, clemency cases, reduced sentences, and commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment.
