President Bola Tinubu has pardoned Maryam Sanda, the woman sentenced to death for the killing of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Sanda, sentenced on January 27, 2020, was among 175 convicts and former convicts who received clemency on Thursday on recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by Attorney-General and Justice Minister Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi.
Sanda, aged 37, was sentenced to death for culpable homicide and had spent six years and eight months at Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
Her family, according to presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, had pleaded for her release 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,” said Onanuga.
The case dates back to November 19, 2017, when Sanda stabbed her husband, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party national chairman, Haliru Bello, to death.
In January 2020, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court found Sanda guilty of murder and sentenced her to death by hanging. The judge determined that Ms Sanda stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife with clear intent to kill.
Justice Halilu reached his verdict by relying on the compelling circumstantial evidence and testimonies of the six witnesses called by the police, the relatives of the convict who cleaned up the scene of the murder, a post-mortem examination on the deceased’s corpse, and the contradictory statements of the convict.
The judge also relied on the “Doctrine of the Last Scene”, which stipulates that the last person at a crime scene bears full responsibility.
“It serves to buttress the finding that the defendant was the last to be seen with the deceased and therefore has full responsibility of what caused his death,” Justice Halilu had said in his ruling.
The conviction was upheld when Sanda appealed to the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja in December 2020.
Justice Steven Adah ruled that it lacked merit. Sanda had claimed she was sentenced based on “circumstantial evidence”, arguing there were no confessional statements, murder weapon or at least two witnesses to back the allegation that she killed Bilyaminu.
The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy recommended pardon for two inmates and 15 former convicts, clemency for 82 inmates, and commutation of sentences for 65 inmates.
Seven inmates on death row also benefited from the presidential reprieve, with their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
The pardons also included posthumous recognition for prominent historical figures including nationalist Sir Herbert Macaulay and the Ogoni Nine, including Ken Saro Wiwa, which were deemed historic injustices.
FULL LIST OF BENEFICIARIES OF PRESIDENT TINUBU’S MERCY
PARDONED
POSTHUMOUS PARDON
POSTHUMOUS PARDON: THE OGONI NINE
VICTIMS OF OGONI NINE HONOURED:
Chief Albert Badey
Chief Edward Kobaru
Chief Samuel Orage
Chief Theophilus Orage
PRESIDENTIAL CLEMENCY
Most of the beneficiaries showed either remorse or learned vocational skills in jail
NB: Senator Ikra Aliyu Bilbis signed an undertaking to be responsible for the rehabilitation and empowerment of all the convicted illegal miners granted presidential clemency.
LIST OF INMATES RECOMMENDED FOR REDUCED TERM OF IMPRISONMENT
LIST OF INMATES ON DEATH ROW REDUCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
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