The family of the late Bilyaminu Bello has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to grant presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing her husband, describing the move as “the worst possible injustice any family could be made to go through.”
In a statement on Monday signed by Dr. Bello Mohammed on behalf of the family, they said the pardon had reopened deep wounds and ridiculed Nigeria’s justice system.
“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,” the statement read.
Sanda, daughter of former Aso Savings Bank chairman Maimuna Aliyu, was convicted on January 27, 2020, for stabbing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, to death at their Abuja residence on November 19, 2017. Her conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal in December 2020 and the Supreme Court on October 27, 2023.
The family said they had only just found closure after the apex court’s ruling, only for the presidential pardon to reopen “painful wounds that had barely healed.”
“Although the perpetrator had shown no remorse even for a fleeting moment throughout the saga, the grieving family took solace in the judgments and moved on, having painfully come to terms with the fate that life had thrust upon one of our own,” they said.
They accused the Tinubu administration of undermining the judiciary and taking a politically motivated decision “to appease Maryam’s family,” while disregarding the agony of the victim’s loved ones.
“We interpret this decision as primarily driven by the sole motivation for appeasing Maryam’s family members by way of extending mercy to a certified convicted murderer, while it conveniently ignored the corresponding inexorable pain inflicted on the victim’s grieving family,” the statement added.
The family further expressed outrage that the government could extend clemency to a person convicted of premeditated murder, saying it “dehumanised” their late son and reduced him to “a mere statistic.”
“It is pertinent to stress that Bilyaminu was also our cherished family member who was profoundly loved and deeply mourned by his teeming relations, friends and close associates,” they said. “Maryam, let’s not forget, had earlier denied the same children now used to elicit sympathy and secure her release, the opportunity to know what a father’s love means.”
They concluded that, while disappointed in the government’s decision, they were leaving the matter to divine justice.
“We take solace in the fact that the ultimate justice resides with the Supreme Judge, our Creator, who will dispense this matter on the Day of Recompense,” the family said.
President Tinubu had last week approved the release of 175 inmates serving various sentences across the country, including Maryam Sanda, under the prerogative of mercy.
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