By Hobnob News
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, the son of former PDP chairman, Haliru Bello.
Sanda, who has spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, was among 175 Nigerians and foreigners granted clemency in what the Presidency described as one of the most far-reaching exercises of presidential mercy in recent history.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the decision followed a recommendation 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).
“Her family pleaded for her release, arguing it was in the best interest of her two children,” the statement said. “The plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her commitment to a reformed lifestyle.”
The list also included posthumous pardons for late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and other members of the ‘Ogoni Nine’, marking a symbolic gesture of reconciliation and national healing.
Maryam Sanda’s case became one of Nigeria’s most talked-about murder trials after she was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 27, 2020, by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court.
Justice Halilu declared at the time,
“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.”
Following the conviction, Sanda’s legal team filed an appeal on 20 grounds, questioning the evidence and alleging bias. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal on December 3, 2020, and upheld both the conviction and death sentence.
“The circumstances surrounding the death can be the best proof of what is being alleged,” Justice Stephen Adah ruled, affirming the lower court’s decision.
The police later urged the Supreme Court to maintain the sentence, emphasizing their confidence in the judgment.
The presidential pardon list, released on Saturday, was categorised into six groups — including full pardons, posthumous pardons, clemency for inmates, sentence reductions, and commutations of death sentences to life imprisonment.
With this move, President Tinubu has exercised what analysts describe as a “bold humanitarian gesture”, balancing justice with compassion and national reconciliation.
