President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, five years after she was sentenced to death for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Sanda, 37, was convicted in January 2020 by an Abuja High Court for stabbing her husband, who was the son of former Peoples Democratic Party National Chairman, Haliru Bello, to death during a domestic dispute in their Maitama home in 2017. She was found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to death by hanging.
She was however named recently amongst 175 convicts granted clemency by President Tinubu based on recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy led by Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
Sanda had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre before her release. Her family pleaded for her pardon, citing the welfare of her two children, her remorse, good conduct, and commitment to rehabilitation, describing her as a model prisoner who had embraced a new lifestyle in custody.
The pardons have caused uproar with some questioning the justice system of the nation while others commend the president’s show of mercy.
