President Bola Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, following six years and eight months in detention at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
In a statement on Saturday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the decision followed a plea from Sanda’s family and recommendations by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
“Her family pleaded for her release, arguing that 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 embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner.”
Sanda’s release formed part of one of the most expansive clemency exercises in Nigeria’s recent history, with 175 Nigerians and foreigners granted pardons or sentence reductions. The list includes posthumous pardons for environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and other members of the Ogoni Nine—a group executed in 1995 under the Abacha regime.
From high-profile conviction to clemency
Maryam Sanda’s case became one of Nigeria’s most widely followed domestic murder trials. On January 27, 2020, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court convicted her of fatally stabbing her husband, the son of a prominent political family, at their Abuja home.
“She should reap what she has sown,” the judge declared at sentencing. “For it has been said that ‘thou shall not kill,’ and whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward.”
Sanda’s lawyers appealed the verdict on 20 grounds, citing alleged bias and insufficient evidence. However, the Court of Appeal upheld her conviction on December 3, 2020, with Justice Stephen Adah affirming that “the circumstances surrounding the death can be the best proof of what is being alleged.”
The Supreme Court was later expected to hear the case after the police pressed for the death sentence to be upheld. “We are satisfied with the findings of the trial and appeal courts,” police counsel James Idachaba said at the time. “We are prepared to defend the law’s position.”
A broader act of mercy
The Presidency said the latest clemency initiative “touches on high-profile historical cases” and was guided by compassion, justice reform, and national reconciliation.
The pardon list, divided into six categories, includes posthumous pardons, clemency for serving inmates, sentence reductions, and commutations of death sentences to life imprisonment.
While the decision has been praised by some as a gesture of mercy and social reintegration, others have criticised the inclusion of Sanda, arguing that it undermines justice in a case that had symbolised accountability for domestic violence.
Human rights advocates say the government must balance compassion with fairness. “Forgiveness is a noble act,” one Abuja-based lawyer said, “but the state must also ensure it doesn’t send the wrong message about the sanctity of life.”
For now, Sanda’s release—alongside the symbolic pardon of the Ogoni Nine—marks a politically charged moment in Tinubu’s presidency, reflecting both a push for national healing and a renewed debate about justice and equality before the law.
