Family of Bilyaminu Bello condemns presidential pardon for convicted killer Maryam Sanda

The family stated that the development has reopened healing wounds, emphasising that the deceased was a cherished family member, not merely a statistic.

The family of the late Bilyaminu Bello has expressed outrage and “deep disappointment” over the presidential pardon granted to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted of his murder.

In a statement issued on Monday and signed by Bello Mohammed on behalf of the family, the decision was described as the worst possible injustice any family could be made to go through for a loved one.

Ms Sanda was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, late Mr Bello, in their Abuja home on 19 November 2017.

According to the family, they had chosen to remain silent for years, respecting the judicial process and considering the couple’s children. However, the presidential pardon compelled them to speak out.

Presidential pardon

President Bola Tinubu had granted state pardon and clemency to 175 convicted persons including drug offenders serving various sentences.

The move has since sparked widespread controversy.

Some were granted full pardons, while others, including notorious kidnappers and murderers, had their sentences commuted or reduced.

The list also includes “illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners…,” according to presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.

Ms Sanda, now 37, had spent six years eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre before her release.

According to Mr Onanuga, the decision followed pleas from her family, who argued that freeing her was in the best interest of her two children.

Ms Sanda, a mother of two, had stabbed the late Mr Bello to death with a broken groundnut bottle in the neck, chest and genitals after accusing him of infidelity.

According to a witness during the murder trial, the convict had earlier been prevented from stabbing the deceased with the same bottle by a visitor on the same day.

The conviction was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

Disappointment

The family accused President Tinubu of inflicting pain on them by extending mercy to the convict citing appeals from her family as the basis of the pardon.

They expressed that this decision disregards the gravity of the crime and the suffering of the victim’s loved ones.

“This latest turn of events, coming just a few years after the dastardly crime that cruelly cut short Bilyaminu’s life has, however, reopened our healing wounds,” the statement reads.

“To have Maryam Sanda walk the face of the earth again, free from any blemish for her heinous crime as if she had merely squashed an ant, is the worst possible injustice any family could be made to go through for a loved one.

“We are, therefore, compelled to issue this formal statement to humanise Bilyaminu, who is now suddenly being made to appear as if he is just another faceless anonymous individual in the long line of victims of crimes in the country: a mere statistical figure.”

The family stressed that the deceased was not just another victim of crime but “a cherished family member who was profoundly loved and deeply
mourned by his teeming relations, friends and close associates following the unfortunate incident.”

Mr Mohammed noted that while they are “deeply hurt” they find solace in “the ultimate comprehensive justice” from the creator.