12/10/2025
BREAKING: Tinubu Pardons Maryam Sanda Sentenced To Death For Killing Husband
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.
