We are deeply hurt by Tinubu’s clemency for Maryam Sanda, Bilyaminu’s family laments
The family of Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello, the murdered husband of now-released Maryam Sanda, have called for a review of President Bola Tinubu’s clemency that freed Sanda from her sentence.
The family, in a statement signed by Bello Haliru Mohammed on behalf of the family and published on THISDAY and X, stated that Tinubu’s forgiveness of Sanda hurt them deeply and reduced their son’s death to one among many.
Haliru noted that the family’s hard-won legal victories since the homicide have also been reduced to nothing as Sanda would now walk free as one who had never committed any crime. Her freedom, they said, was made possible following several appeals by her family.
“One name that stood out for us as a family is that of Maryam Sanda, a lady convicted and sentenced to death by the FCT High Court on Monday, 27th January 2020, for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of her husband and beloved family member of ours, the late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello,” the family’s statement reads in part.
“Considering the delicately sensitive nature of the situation involving two innocent children of the deceased victim, the family has deliberately refrained from making any public statement or comments since the unfortunate, sad incident, which occurred on that fateful night of Sunday, 19th November 2017.
“This was despite several sponsored write-ups from the accused perpetrator’s camp containing a series of falsehoods against the deceased, without factoring in the children’s best interest. We, instead, placed our trust and abiding confidence in the nation’s judicial process to run its full course and deliver justice for the deceased victim and his family.”
Haliru noted that whatever closure Bello’s family received through the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2020 and 2023 has now been taken away by the president.
The family’s statement.
“The appeals process reaffirmed the FCT High Court’s death sentence through the Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court judgements of Friday, 4th December 2020, and Friday, 27th October 2023, respectively. Satisfied that justice had finally been served, the judgment provided some closure of sorts in the circumstance, if ever there could be one,” the family’s statement reads.
“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.
“The alleged grounds for Maryam Sanda’s release were predicated on appeals from her family, amongst other considerations. 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 following the unfortunate incident that resulted in his gruesome murder eight years ago.
“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 and care mean.
“Bilyaminu’s family is deeply hurt by this latest development, which we interpret as primarily driven by the sole motivation for appeasing Maryam’s family members by way of extending mercy to a certified convicted murderer, while at the same time overlooking or conveniently ignoring the corresponding inexorable pain that has now been inflicted on the victim’s teeming grieving family members, friends and associates arising from the action.”
The late Bello was killed after Sanda stabbed him multiple times with a broken groundnut bottle on the night of November 19, 2017, after being prevented from the act hours earlier. Following the incident, Sanda denied attacking Bello and claimed he fell over a broken Shisha pot.
Her family also tried to tamper with the evidence by cleaning up the crime scene. They even requested that she be granted bail on the grounds of pregnancy six months after her husband’s death.
After years of legal battle, Justice Yusuf Halilu sentenced her to death by hanging for the murder of her husband.
